Silver haired street fighter of war
by White Hunter
Summary: An ordinary silver haired street girl gets pulled into a war and joins the resistance on Puckworld. Will she survive? R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Silver haired street fighter of war

I do not own The Mighty Ducks or any of the other characters within this story, only the characters that I come up within my mind.

A young teenage/adult girl, who has been abandoned by her mother and ran away from a terrible orphanage, struggles to survive within the streets of New York City but that soon changes when she is suddenly transported to a different world. She now fights to survive a war that is taking place on a planet that isn't inhabited by humans, but by ducks. Can she survive?

Main character of the story

Name: Riko Hikari

Nickname: Quicksilver

Age: 18 (Will turn 19 in the next story that will follow this one.)

Hair color: Silver

Eye color: Golden amber

Clothing: A dark blue vest over a short sleeve black T-shirt, dark blue jean shorts and white/red runners.

Personality: She is distant to the people around her and always keeps to herself, but she won't hesitate in helping people who are in danger. She can be hot tempered if rubbed the wrong way, is stubborn when asking help from others when she is injured and she doesn't trust people so easily, but when she's around people long enough she will start to warm up to them, eventually.

Parents: Riko has none for she was abandoned by her mother many years ago and her father died before she was even born. She ran away from the orphanage after she turned 18 and had lived on the streets of New York City.

Items: fingerless gloves and a choker collar.

Likes: Fighting, playing hockey with her team members, her teammates and adventures.

Dislikes: Someone bossing her around, being lied to, sitting on the sidelines when she is injured, dresses, stuck up people, publicity stunts, being helpless, her mother and over grown lizards.

The beginning and the first face off: part 1

Person's profile

A long time ago, I was only a 4 year old girl that knew nothing about the world and its dangers for I was too young to understand anything back then, but I soon learned the hard way as I grew older. My mother always kept me in the house as she would always leave me at home alone to fend for myself while she got herself drunk at these clubs in New York City. My mother never let me outside of the house, not even for a second and she doesn't want to waste her time in schooling me either for she always thought of me as nothing, but a piece of misery that had entered her life after my father died many years ago. I always thought that I would be stuck in spending my whole life inside my mother's house when one day, my life changed forever after I became 8 years old. My mother took me to this really nasty orphanage and left me there with the care takers who were always mean to me, and the children that were equally as bad as them. People would come to the orphanage once in a while to adopt a child of their very own, but when they saw me they would instantly glare or walk away out of fear. You see…I'm not very normal looking to people.

My hair was a pale silver/white that grew down between my shoulder blades while my eyes are a bright amber/gold that would pierce into anyone's soul if the person stared into them for too long.

Time soon passed and my mother never did return to get me, but I knew from the start that she would leave me to fend for myself once again. It was when I soon turned 18 that I decided to run away from the orphanage and live my life on the street. It was rough, but I learned to be strong by fighting my own battles against punks who come looking for a fight and my days are always a test of survival. I grew colder to the people around me as I blocked my emotions out from my mind and I rarely show them in front of people. My life was always the same as I wonder the streets of my city while fighting to survive. But my life is about to take an unexpected turn when I'm suddenly transported to another world where human's don't exist and it is being invaded by over grown lizards that call themselves the Saurian overlords. I soon become part of group that called themselves the resistance and now I'm caught up in a war between two different races.

I tell you, does my life get any better than this?

Normal profile

New York City was ablaze with noise as cars moved down the roads. People were walking down the concrete streets without a care in the world, but one person stuck out from the crowd of people as she walked down the sidewalk with her hands in her pockets. She had sliver/white hair that grew down to the middle of her shoulder blades and golden/amber eyes that were as cold as steel.

She was wearing a short sleeve black t-shirt with a dark blue vest over top of it, dark blue jean shorts and red/white runners. Around the girl's neck was a black chocker collar and on her hands were black fingerless gloves.

The girl's name was Riko and she was a runaway from an orphanage that had been cruel to her when she was a little girl. She is 18 years old so she was able to take care of herself when it came to the street life of New York. Riko looked down at the ground below her feet as she walked down the streets of the city with people walking in front of her or past her. But she soon turned off the street and began walking down an alleyway before stopping. Riko stood in the alley for a moment while not moving as the wind blew through her silver hair. She slowly turned around and came face to face with five guys that were wearing black leather jackets over their red, white, blue and black shirts. They were all wearing the same blue jeans and black shoes and their hair colors consisted of both brown, black and blonde.

Riko smirked when she saw them for she knew this gang and their leader very well: "So this is your reinforcements huh?"

"That's right doll," answered the leader of the group as he stepped forward towards Riko. "And this time, you are going down."

"Oh," replied Riko in amusement as she crossed her arms over her chest. "This should be interesting. I hadn't had a challenge from any of the other gangs on the street lately so I hope you and your gang will give me some excitement today."

"Ooh," whistled the leader and his gang members as they smirked at Riko. "Then if you're really ready to fight, than who are we to argue? Get her boys."

On the leader's command, two of his grunts ran towards Riko as they got ready to grab her by the arms. Riko stood her ground as she watched the two men running towards her, but she soon did the unexpected. Riko, like a blur, lashed out at the two men that were running at her by punching her two fists into her attacker's guts. Those two simple hits made the two men crumble to the ground while they clutched their stomachs in pain.

"Pathetic," muttered Riko unimpressed as she glared at the leader in front of her. "Is that the best that you and your men have to offer?"

"Why you little…" growled one of the men before he charged at her in fury.

Riko merely stared at the man that was running towards her before giving him a fast round house kick to the head and sent him crashing into the brick wall of the alley.

"Nice try," said Riko in a bored tone as she stared down at the man that lay unconscious on the ground before turning to the leader of the group. "You and your gang members aren't really much of a challenge. You only charge at me head on. If you ask me, you and your men aren't really fighters at all, but simple cowards that like to beat up on weak people for fun."

The leader and his right hand man grew angry when they heard the insult the 18 year old had given them before they charged at her in a full out fury. Riko sighed in disappointment as she started to fight off the two men without breaking a sweat.

'_These guys don't have the brains for fighting,_' thought Riko as she slammed her elbow into the leader's stomach before karate chopping her right hand into the other man's neck thus knocking them both out. '_These people aren't worth fighting anymore. I need to have some real competition that can out rival me._'

Riko looked down at the men that she had knocked out before turning and walking away from the mess that she had made.

'_This city is becoming duller & duller every single day,_' grumbled Riko as she came to an outer street and started walking away from the alley.

Riko was back within the crowed of people as she walked with her head down while stuffing her hands back into her pockets.

In Central Park

Riko was walking through Central Park as the sun began to slowly set over the city. Riko had her hands in her pockets as she stared down at the path that she was walking upon.

'_Man, life in this city sure is boring._' Riko mused in sourness as she kicked some dirt up with her left foot before she sat down on one of the park's benches and leaned back so that she could look up at the darkening sky above her. '_Every time I fight a street punk or his gang members *BANG!* the fight is over before it even started. What's the point in fighting street punks if they only drop dead after I've punched them once in their gut?_'

Everything was quiet within the park as a cool breeze blew over Riko's face. It swept a few strands of her hair away from her face as the 18 year old closed her eyes to the world around her. This was one of the rarest moments that Riko could finally have some peace of mind where no one can disturb her, but her peace was suddenly disturbed when she felt the wind grow stronger around her. Riko quickly stood up from the park bench. Her hair blew behind her as the wind blasted past the 18 year old girl's body.

"What's going on here!" shouted Riko in a confused voice.

That was when her ears caught the sound of something tearing behind her. The street fighter quickly turned and what she saw was a portal suddenly appeared before her eyes. Riko glared at the odd phenomenon while she braced herself against the wind that was sucking her towards the vortex. That was when she started to hear screaming from inside the vortex. The 18 year old kept glaring at the portal as she listened hard to the voices that were screaming and shouting within it.

'_Just what in the world is that thing?_' thought Riko as the screaming still continued to fill the street fighter's ears.

The wind grew stronger around Riko as if it were urging her to jump into the portal. The street fighter stood her ground as she listened to screaming of people for a few more minutes. The screams were full of fear and pain and it soon struck a nerve in Riko's body. Anger began to flow through her veins as the street fighter finally decided to take a chance by jumping into the vortex to find out where the screaming was coming from. Riko's hands turned into fists before she took a running leap as she let the wind carry her into the vortex. The vortex quickly closed up behind Riko and everything became normal within Central Park, minus the absent street fighter.

Inside the vortex

Riko twisted and turned as the wind currents tossed her around within the vortex. The screams that Riko had heard before she'd entered the portal grew louder along with another sound that the street fighter couldn't identify yet until a blast went off within her ears. The street fight quickly realized that the blast was the sound of a gun being fired off by some unknown gun that she wasn't familiar with. Riko stared up ahead of her as she saw the exit of the vortex before she finally came out on the other side.

Riko flipped through the air before she landed on her feet as she made contact with the ground. The street fighter flipped a few strands of her hair out of her face before she stood up to get a better look at her surroundings and what she saw wasn't a pretty sight to look at. Many of the building were torn down and laid in ruins around the 18 year old and the sky was painted blood red.

"What in a world?" started Riko but she was quickly interrupted when she heard heavy metal footsteps coming up behind her.

Riko quickly turned around and saw a red robot that was 9 feet tall towering over her. It pointed its gun at the human girl before it began to speak in a robotic voice.

"Surrender or be destroyed," ordered the robot.

Riko only rolled her eyes at the robot before she leapt up from the ground. She flipped in the air before bringing her right foot down on the robot's head. The head was instantly ripped off by the force of Riko's kick before the silver haired street fighter landed back down on the ground while she watched the robot topple backwards.

"Sorry bolts, but I don't take orders from robots," stated Riko before she ran away from the still form of the robot when she heard the approaching footsteps of more robots coming her way.

Riko quickly ducked into an alley as she watched a group of robots march past her hiding spot: "Just where in the world am I?"

"You're on a planet that has been invaded by the Saurian overlords, that's where you are missy," spoke a voice from behind Riko.

The street fighter turned around to see who had spoken to her and what she saw behind her made the young 18 year old stare at the person in surprise. Sitting behind Riko was a humanoid male duck that looked to be in his 40's. The duck had light grey feathers and dull brown eyes that had lost all hope in life. He was wearing a ragged brown jacket over a white shirt, black pants and black boots.

Riko stared at the duck for a moment as she took in the details of this stranger: "Who are you? And on top of that, what are you?"

"My name is Joseph Stonefeather little lady," answered the duck in a raspy voice, "An old mallard that had escaped the drones who invaded this planet."

Riko walked towards the duck before stopping only few feet away from him: "What exactly is this planet?"

"The planet is called Puckworld young lady," answered Joseph in a lifeless voice. "It was named in honor of our greatest hero, Drake DuCaine, who had saved our planet from a band of evil Saurian Overlords a hundred years ago. But now the Saurian Overlords are back and they have taken over Puckworld once again."

Riko frowned at the duck in front of her before turning towards the entrance of the alleyway to see a few more of those robots lurking around, but they were far away from the alley that she and the duck were hiding in. The street fighter turned back to the older duck.

"You mean those robots out there are the Saurian Overlord's pets?" whispered Riko as she knelt down to get eye level with the duck.

"Yes," replied Joseph sadly. "They are also the ones that imprisoned the people of Puckworld and turned them into slaves, yet there is a rumor going around that there is a group who calls themselves the resistance that could free us from our enemy, but it's only a rumor. I'm afraid that our planet is doomed to forever be in the shadows of the Saurian Overlords."

"Sounds like you've lost a lot of hope old man," voiced Riko as her cold golden eyes softened in sympathy.

"I have," spoke Joseph sadly before he looked at Riko. "But who exactly are you, missy?"

"Me?" said Riko as she pointed at herself. "I'm Riko Hikari, the best street fighter from New York City, planet Earth."

"Planet Earth?" repeated Joseph as his eyes brightened up in amazement. "I've heard of another planet called Earth. It is said that Earth is inhabited by beings called humans, tell me…are you truly a human?"

Riko looked at the older duck in surprise but she quickly nodded her head as she answered the duck's question. Joseph soon smiled across his beak as tears began to appear in the corner of his eyes.

"I must have done something good within my life to have met a human like you," chuckled Joseph. "But I've heard that young humans were supposed to have blonde, black, brown or red hair, not silver/white."

"Let's just say that I'm a different kind of human that is an outcast to her kind," explained Riko as she turned her eyes downwards to stare at the ground. "And humans don't have golden/amber eyes either."

"Well, whether you're different or not I'm glad that I have lived this long in life to meet you, Riko," said Joseph with a smile.

Riko looked at the old duck in surprise before she suddenly heard a gun shot being fired off at them from behind. She quickly acted as the street fighter tackled the old duck to the ground.

"Look out!" shouted Riko as a laser beam cut into the stone building that Joseph had been leaning up against a few moments ago.

Riko quickly got up from the ground to glare at the robot that had shot at them.

"Halt!" shouted the robot as it pointed its gun at Riko and Joseph.

Riko let out a growl as she jumped up from the ground before kicking down a nearby trashcan with the lid flying off of it. Riko quickly grabbed the air born trashcan lid out of midair before she threw it towards the robot as it spun and flew like a blur through the air. The force that Riko put into throwing the trashcan lid sent the robot crashing to the ground once the lid made contact with the robot's head. The street fight quickly turned to Joseph as she helped the old duck up by draping his left arm over her shoulders.

"Come on, let get out of here!" exclaimed Riko before she and Joseph began to run as the robot started to slowly climb back onto its feet.

Riko and Joseph quickly exited the alley as they ran from their pressures. They ran for about an hour before they found a hiding spot behind some rubble as they stopped to catch their breath, but mostly for Joseph to rest. Riko leaned Joseph up against the wall of rubble before she edged out towards the corner as she took a quickly peek to see if the robots were still following them. The street fighter saw two of the robots walking around in the open as they searched for both her and Joseph.

"Ugh…these guys just don't know when to quite!" hissed Riko in anger as she snuck back behind the ruble before looking over at Joseph. "I'm going to lead these tin-heads away from you. That will give you enough time to escape and find a safe place to hide."

"No," whispered Joseph as he place a hand on top of Riko's right shoulder to stopped the young street fight from running out of their hiding spot. "I'm afraid that there are no more safe hiding spots within this city anymore and I can't let you risk your life in sacrificing yourself to those drones."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" voiced Riko with impatience.

"You must make a run for it," answered Joseph calmly. "Get out of this city as fast as you can and head towards the mountains. There are two mountains that you need to look for. They're called Twin Beaks, though in human language it would be known as Twin Peaks."

"Why do you want me to go there?" asked Riko suspiciously as her golden eyes hardened in defiance.

"I've read through a few books on the legend of Drake DuCaine and in the legends they say that something is hidden within those mountains," responded Joseph. "People say that it is only a legend, but I believe that it is true for the item that you need to look for once belonged to the hero that had saved Puckworld."

Riko stared at Joseph as she signaled for him to continue by nodding her head: "The item that you need to look for is a goalie shaped duck mask, but it is no ordinary mask my friend. This mask can let the user see through the Saurian Overlord's cloak of darkness, but the mask will only work on ducks."

"So what do you want me to do if or when I find this mask?" questioned Riko with a frown.

"Give Drake DuCaine's mask to a duck that you see is worthy of leading a rebellion against the Saurian Overlords and freeing the people of Puckworld," replied Joseph. "Please, Riko, you might be the only hope in saving us from the Saurian Overlords."

Riko stared hard at Joseph for a moment before glancing towards the corner of the ruble until she turned to look back at Joseph.

"But what about those Drone-heads?" questioned Riko again, "If I step out there then they will definitely catch us for sure."

"Just leave that to me," reassured Joseph as he place a hand on the street fighter's shoulder once again. "I'll let those drones capture me while you make an escape."

"Are you crazy!" hissed Riko in anger. "You can't just let those two bolt-for-brains' take you!"

"It's the only way," reasoned Joseph gently. "Besides, I am too old and I won't make it to Twin Beaks. Please, you are the only one that can do it."

Riko was about to argue with the duck, but was cut off when Joseph raised his right hand as he signaled for her to stop arguing with him before he slowly stood up from the ground. Riko watched as the old duck slowly walked over to the end of the ruble and disappeared around the corner. Riko turned her head away from the corner that Joseph had disappeared around before she got up and made a run for it. The street fighter quickly ducked behind a building before she looked around the corner. Riko saw Joseph getting punched by one of the drones before it grabbed him after the drake fell to the ground and was now dragging away the unconscious duck by the collar of his jacket. The street fighter clenched her hands into fists as she watched the two drones drag Joseph away with them before she tore her eyes away from the scene. She took off down the empty streets as the words of the old duck played out within her head.

'_You are the only hope in saving Puckworld._'

Riko clenched her jaw in anger and determination as the street fighter ran full speed down the streets of the ruin city.

'_Don't worry, Joseph_' voiced Riko within her head. '_I promise that I'll find the mask, no matter what it takes!_'

Riko kept running through the destroyed city while dodging drones whenever she saw or came near them. She soon came to a darker part of the city where she stopped to catch her breath as she sat down on a pile of rubble to rest. The street fighter hung her head back as she stared up at the red sky above her while wiping the sweat away from her forehead with her right arm.

"I hope I get out of this city soon," voiced Riko as she kept looking up at the sky above her.

Everything was quiet around Riko for a moment before she suddenly sensed that she was being watched. The street fighter quickly stood up and began to calmly look around at the shadows that the buildings or rubble had cased over the street that she was standing in. Her senses quickly kicked in when she suddenly sensed that something was standing behind her. Riko shot out with her right foot as she kicked her attacker in the stomach before she jump back and got into a fighting stance.

The being that Riko had kicked was a humanoid golden feathered raptrin. He was wearing a red cape, an armored chest plate with a crest on it, golden metal vambraces, a red belt around his waist, black pants and boots. In his hands he held a silver sword that glowed with blue electricity.

The raptrin let out a groan as he rubbed the spot where Riko had kicked him before he glared at the silver haired street fighter.

"And here I thought I had found someone who was easy to steal money from," grumbled the raptrin angrily in a British accent.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not that kind of gal to be easily picked on," said Riko with a smirk.

"We'll just see about that, freak!" growled the raptrin before he ran at Riko with his blade raised high above his head.

Riko merely rolled her eyes before she grabbed a metal poll that stuck out of the ground behind her and pulled it out in one swift movement. The poll was 6 feet long and was 4 inches thick. The street fighter quickly blocked the falcon's sword before she kicked him in the stomach again. The raptrin let out a grunt as he stepped back in pain before he was suddenly struck in the side by Riko's metal rod as he was knocked to the ground. Riko twirled her makeshift staff around her head for a few moments before bringing it down towards her side.

"Nice try feather brain," taunted Riko as a smirk still played out on her face. "But you're going to have to do better than that to defeat me!"

The raptrin growled as he slowly stood up from the ground. He gripped the hilt of his sword as he held it in front of him. Riko stuck out her right hand as she taunted the bird by signaling for him to come and get her. Rage consumed the raptrin as he ran at Riko once again. He swung his sword wildly as the falcon tried to cut the street fighter across the chest, but Riko instantly blocked him with her metal staff and she kept blocking the humanoid bird's sword strokes. Riko soon grew bored with blocking and decided to end it right now. The street fighter swept her staff down at the bird's legs and knocked him right off his feet. The raptrin grunted as he fell onto his back and Riko saw her chance to strike as she brought her staff down to slam it into the bird's chest, but her staff was instantly blocked by a golden blade.

Riko quickly jumped away as she held her staff ready to strike the person that had blocked her attack.

The person that had stopped her was a duck with grey feathers. A long bang of hair hung over the duck's forehead with a white streak running underneath it and a small chip was seen on the left end of his beak. He was wearing a maroon suit, a brown belt around his waist, black boots and a cybernetic eye patch over his right eye. The duck looked to be 26 years old. Riko wasn't all that surprised to see another bird enter the battle for she had a feeling that the raptrin wasn't alone on this street.

"Well, looks like I have another opponent to fight," stated Riko with a smirk.

"Hey, take it easy," said the duck in a Brooklyn accent. "I don't want any trouble 'ere kid."

"Well that's too bad," stated Riko. "Because when you mess with me and start attacking me than the only way for this fight to end is if we fight until we drop or until one of us gives up."

"Then I guess it's going to be the hard way then huh?" said the duck as he raised an eyebrow Riko.

"If you can handle a girl that is," mocked Riko.

The duck smirked as he got his sword ready for battle before he and Riko started to circle each other. The duck signaled for the raptrin to leave and the bird of prey didn't argue as he quickly ran into the shadows. Riko and the duck glared at each other as they slowly circled around one another before they both stood in a battle stance. Riko made the first move as she ran towards the duck before she began to do lightning fast cartwheels, backflips and handsprings which caught the duck completely off guard. The young street fighter suddenly sprung off from the ground as she flipped through the air before landing behind the duck. Riko struck out with her staff, but the duck quickly turned and blocked the street girl's attack with his sword.

Riko smirked before she continued to go on the offence as she began to move her staff faster and more fluently while the duck blocked or dodged her strikes. Riko then caught the duck off guard again as she dropped to the ground and knocked the drake right off his feet by sweeping her left leg under him. The mallard landed on his back but quickly recovered as he sprung back up onto his feet and swung his sword at the street fighter. Riko merely dodged by handspringing backwards before she landed in a defense position.

"Not bad," commented Riko to the duck.

"I should say the same for you kid," said duck with a smirk as he went into a defense position as well. "I never thought I would wind up fighting a female who has fast reflexes like you."

"Well there's an old saying that we have back on my home planet, 'Never judge a book by its cover.'"

"So true," stated the duck with a chuckle. "So what's your name kid?"

"Riko Hikari, the best street fighter in New York City, planet Earth," answered the 18 year old. "And you are?"

"The name is Duke L'Orange, the famous jewel thief on Puckworld," replied the duck.

"And also the best swords man as well," added Riko. "Now do you want to continue our battle or…"

Riko suddenly trailed off when she quickly sensed a familiar presence behind her. She quickly turned around and saw a horde of drones coming her way.

"That's just great," grumbled Riko in annoyance. "The one time that I finally found someone to match my skills and it gets interrupted by a group of drones."

Duke quickly came up to her side as his left eye widened in fear: "Oh man, this is not good!"

"We'll have to continue our battle some other time drake," stated Riko as she and the duck looked at one another.

"I have to agree with ya there kid," replied Duke in agreement. "Come on! Let's get out of 'ere before those drones catch us!"

"Right behind you!" exclaimed Riko as she followed Duke.

The two ran for it with the drones hot on their heels. Riko still held her makeshift staff as she ran side by side with the grey feathered duck. Duke had sheathed the blade of his sword as he attached the hilt of his blade to his left shoulder. The two of them dodged a few lasers that were fired at them while they were being chased by the drones. Riko growled in anger as she thought about turning around to face those robots, but she was suddenly caught off guard when Duke grabbed her left arm and pulled her around a corner.

"This way!" he exclaimed.

Riko quickly followed the duck into an abandoned building. Duke quickly let go of Riko's arm as he crouched down on the ground. He grabbed a metal handle bar that was attached to a wooden trapdoor. Duke quickly opened the wooden trapdoor before he turned to look at Riko.

"We can escape those drones down 'ere," Duke explained to the young street fighter. "It leads to the secret hideout of my gang members."

Riko stared down into the tunnel before looking at Duke in distrust: "I'll trust you...for now."

The street fighter quickly leapt into the dark depths of the secret passageway with Duke leaping in after her as the trap door slammed shut behind them.

Secret passageway

All was silent within the darkness of the passageway except for the footsteps of two individuals. Duke was walking in front of Riko with a flashlight in his left hand to light their way through the dark tunnel. Riko stared intently at the back of Duke's head before she began to speak.

"So…are you another individual that escaped the invasion of these robotic dimwits?"

"I'm one of a few," answered Duke as he looked over his shoulder at Riko. "But I'm kind of surprise to see someone like you wondering around the streets of Ice City like that. Where'd ya come from anyways kid?"

"I told you in my introduction, I came from a planet called Earth," replied Riko calmly.

"Never heard of it," stated Duke with a shrug of his shoulders before he looked straight ahead again.

"Funny," muttered Riko in thought. "A duck that I've met up with when I first got here seemed to have known what my planet was."

"Oh, and who might this duck's name be?" questioned Duke with interest.

"Joseph Stonefeather," answered Riko bluntly before she suddenly bumped into Duke's back when the drake quickly stopped in front of her.

"Hey," grumbled Riko as she stepped back a few feet away from Duke with a glare on her face. "Why'd you stop all of a sudden?"

Duke turned around to face the street fighter with his left eye wide open in surprise: "Did you just say that the duck's name was Joseph Stonefeather?"

Riko blinked at Duke before she nodded her head while staring at the duck curiously: "Yeah, that's what I just said. Why, do you know him or something?"

"Yeah, I do," answered Duke as he looked down at the ground. "Joseph was once part of the Brotherhood of the Blades, but he soon went straight by becoming a research professor on myths and legends. He was my master…and a father that I'd never had."

Riko stared at Duke in shock before she turned her eyes down towards the ground: "He must have been a great duck for you to have known for so long."

"Yeah, he was," voiced Duke before he turned his gaze back on Riko. "But you met him right? How is he, is he okay?"

Riko's right hand curled up into fists while clenching her jaw in anger as she remembered how Joseph had been dragged away by those drones before she closed her eyes in regret.

"He was fine when I first met up with him," started Riko in a low voice. "That was until we were chased by those drones. Joseph and I managed to get away from them when we found a hiding place behind some ruble where we could rest for a while, but we couldn't make our escape because two drones had followed us. I was about to lead the robots away from Joseph so that he could escape on his own, but he…"

"But he gave himself up so that you could escape, right?" finished Duke as he looked at the young human in front of him.

Riko nodded her head before growling: "I should have been the one to get captured not him!"

"Kid, he knew what he was doing," voiced Duke as he placed his right hand on Riko's shoulder which made the street fighter look up at him in surprise. "That's just the kind of guy Joseph is, he would risk his life in protecting someone that he thought was worthy to be his friend, but he doesn't give his trust out to just anybody. He must have seen something inside of you that would have made him give up his life to those drones."

Riko stared up at Duke with one eyebrow raised in confusion before she decided to change the subject.

"Anyways…before Joseph was taken away by the drones he told me about an item that I have to find within the mountains. The item is hidden in a place called the Twin Beaks and I need to get there as fast as possible."

"Twin Beaks, huh?" echoed Duke as he rubbed his chin in thought. "Isn't that where ducks say that Drake DuCaine's mask is hidden?"

"That's the place," said Riko with a determined look on her face. "And I made a promise to Joseph that I'd find that mask and give it to a duck that has the right qualities of being a leader. I know it sounds like a crazy and a suicidal mission, but I've gotta try."

Duke looked down into Riko's golden eyes and saw that she was dead serious on her task. The duck smiled before he nodded his head.

"Alright kid, if you really need to get to Twin Beaks that badly than you're going to have to get yourself a ride." Duke said before he turned and began to walk back down the tunnel again. "And I know just the duck that will help you. She's a master in mechanics and she is also one of the best computer hackers on Puckworld."

"Then I can't wait to meet her," stated Riko with a smirk as she began to follow Duke once again. "So how old is she?"

"She's 16 years old, a little younger than you." Duke explained as he walked ahead of Riko. "Her name is Kathryn. She's quiet temperamental when someone messes with her machines, but she is hard headed, a good fighter in the battle field and she is very sharp in thinking up a last minute hat trick in get herself out of a tough spot. But she can also be quiet the prankster when she wants to be."

"Sounds like you know this person very well," stated Riko with a chuckle.

"Well I have to, after all…she is my sister," said Duke with a smirk as he looked over his shoulder at Riko.

Riko blinked in surprise at what Duke had just said before she gave a small smiled back at the duck in front of her. The two of them continued to walk down the dark hallway in silence before they came upon a steel door standing in front of them. Duke walked up to it before he banged his right fist four times against the door. Riko stood behind Duke as the two of them waited for a moment before they heard the sound of someone walking towards the door on the other side. The door creaked open as a black feathered 22 year old duck poked his head out.

The duck was wearing a dark blue shirt with a sliver vest over top, dark grey pants that were held up by a brown belt coming around his waist and black combat boots. On his belt was a silver hilt of the same kind of sword that Duke had attached on his left shoulder. The black duck had brown eyes and short black hair that grew to his neck and few blue streaks going through the drake's bangs that hung above the mallard's eyebrows.

A relieved sigh came out of the black duck's beak when he saw Duke: "Master Duke, thank goodness it's only you."

"Well who were you expecting Tate, Santa Clause?" joked Duke with a chuckle before he pocketed the flashlight in the pouch that hung on his belt.

The black duck smiled before he suddenly noticed Riko who was quietly standing behind Duke as the street fighter placed her makeshift staff down on the ground so the black duck wouldn't see her as a threat.

"Master Duke who is that stranger behind you?" asked the black duck curiously as he pointed towards Riko.

Duke turned around and motioned for Riko to step up beside him before he turned back to the black duck.

"Tate, I like you to meet Riko Hikari," said Duke as he introduced the young street fighter. "She's from a planet called Earth. She's a street fighter and a pretty tough one at that."

"Oh yeah, the one that Falcone had mentioned when he got back here to the hideout," voiced the black duck, Tate, as he scratched the side of his head. "He said that he met up with a strange creature with silver hair that attacked him on sight. Said it was ugly looking, but now that I've seen her for myself I have to admit that she looks impressive."

Riko blushed as she scratched the back of her head: "I'm not all that impressive to look at."

"Don't be modest," said Duke with a chuckle as he patted Riko on the shoulder. "Anyways, Riko I want you to meet my apprentice and best friend Tate Jetwing."

"Nice to meet you," said Tate as he held his hand out towards Riko who gladly accepted it.

"Likewise," stated Riko with a nod before letting go of his hand.

"So Tate, what's been going on since I last left?" asked Duke from out of the blue.

"Oh, nothing much, except that Kathryn was yelling at Matt again," answered Tate with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Let me guess, Matt destroyed one of my sister's inventions again after he tried to ask her out on date, right?"

"Yep," responded Tate with a nod of his head. "Man, you'd think the guy would take a hint."

"Don't let it get to ya kid," reassured Duke with a smile. "Matt is always like this with the girls."

"Yeah, I know" said Tate as he let Riko and Duke through the door before he closed it behind them. "But your sister is way too young for Matt to be dating. That drake should be thinking more about how we're going to beat those Saurian slime-balls and their drones instead of chasing after girls all day."

"I'll make sure to talk to Matt later," said Duke as he walked beside his apprentice. "Right now I need to talk with my sister, you know where she is?"

"Still in the hanger," answered Tate with a chuckle. "She's working really hard on her new vehicles that she just created a few weeks ago."

Duke smiled as he rolled his good eye in amusement. Just like his sister to lock herself up in the hanger. Riko had left behind her makeshift staff back within the secret passageway so that she wouldn't appear threatening when she entered the secret headquarters of the Brotherhood and she had to say that this place wasn't impressive to look at.

The walls within the hideout were cracked and looked like they could come down at any moment. There were a few crates here and there, some old furniture and a lot of ducks that didn't look too friendly as some of them glared at her in anger or fear of her presence within their hide out. Duke must have noticed too because he had moved himself closer to the young street fighter so that he could protect her if any of his members tried to attack the sliver haired human. Tate soon brought them to a wooden door before he knocked on it with his left fist.

"Kathryn, are you in there?" called out the black duck.

"Yeah I'm in here Tate!" shouted a female voice on the other side. "And I'm busy so go away!"

"But I have someone one who wants to see you!" exclaimed Tate. "And it isn't Matt this time!"

"Then who is it!" barked Kathryn in annoyance.

"It's your brother, Duke!" answered Tate.

There was a sound of metal hitting the ground before the sound of feet came running up to the door. The door quickly opened as a 16 year old female duck stepped out of the room.

The duck had dusty brown/grey feathers with long black hair tied up into a ponytail and light blue eyes. She was wearing a black short sleeve t-shirt, faded blue jeans and black combat boots. Leather vambraces with metal steel attached to them sat on the female duck's lower arms and around her neck was a leather loose choke collar with an emerald pendent hanging down at the front.

The female duck, Kathryn, quickly jumped onto Duke as she wrapped her arms around his neck with the older duck wrapping his arms around his sibling's waist as he twirled her around before stopping.

"Duke, oh man I was so worried about you!" exclaimed Kathryn in excitement before she pulled away from the older duck. "I thought those drones had gotten you."

"Sorry about that Kathryn," said Duke as he looked down at his sister. "I had to go looking for Falcone since he snuck out again, but I bumped into someone on the streets when I saw her fighting with Falcone."

The female duck looked over and saw Riko standing behind Duke with her hands on her hips. The female duck grew suspicious as she glared at the human street fighter.

"And who is this?" she questioned.

"Kathryn, I want you to meet Riko," replied Duke as he introduced the silver haired street fighter to his sister. "A human from a planet called Earth."

"You mean the same mythical planet that our old master would always keep rambling on about?" voiced Kathryn as she looked up at her brother with wide eyes.

"That's the one," answered Duke with a nod.

Kathryn looked at Riko for a moment before she burst out laughing: "Yeah right…next you'll be telling me that the legends of Drake DuCaine are actually real along with his magical mask."

"The legends of Drake DuCaine are as real as I am," replied Riko bluntly as she crossed her arms over her chest while she glared at the younger duck in front of her. "And I'd promised Joseph that I would go to Twin Beaks to find Drake Ducaine's mask for him."

Kathryn quickly stopped laughing when Riko had mentioned Joseph's name before the young female duck stared wide eyed at the human in front of her.

"Did you just say, Joseph? As in Joseph Stonefeather?" questioned Kathryn in a quiet voice before she took a step towards Riko. "Where is he, is he alright?"

Riko's eyes softened in sadness as she turned her gaze down at the ground. Duke looked over at Tate and saw the 22 year old looking at Riko with pleading eyes as the same questions played out through the black duck's head.

"It's best that we discuss this in the hanger," suggested Duke as he led the two younger ducks and human into the hanger.

Duke closed the door of the hanger behind him when they had all entered the room before Riko finally answered the question that the two ducks were asking of her. She told them what had happened to Joseph and the two ducks took it really hard, especially Kathryn as she fell to the floor and on to her knees with her hand covering her eyes and began to cry. Duke lowered himself down to the ground and held his sister in his arms as the older sibling tried to comfort the younger duck. Tate slammed his fist into the wall of the hanger as anger flooded his senses.

"Those Saurian scum bags," growled the black duck. "They're going to pay for this one day."

"And they will," said Riko calmly. "That's a promise."

Kathryn soon calmed down before she and Duke got up from the ground. The 16 year old wiped away the last of her tears before she looked at Riko.

"So…what are you going to do once you found the mask?" asked Kathryn.

"Joseph told me to find a duck that has the right qualities of being a leader and give the mask to him." Riko explained to the 16 year old. "But from what your brother told me, Twin Beaks is pretty far. That's why Duke brought me here to you. He said that you could give me a special vehicle that could take me to Twin Beaks."

"Well, I think I might have the vehicle that could help get you there," replied Kathryn as she led Riko, Tate and Duke to a group of tarps. "I've been working on these babies for weeks."

Kathryn grabbed one of the tarps before she gave it a good yank. The tarp went flying off as it reviled the object that had been hidden underneath. Duke let out a whistle as Riko and Tate stared at the item in front of them.

The vehicle that sat in front of them was some type of motorcycle except that it didn't have any wheels. Its style was that of a sports bike with a silver and blue paint job on its body. Riko walked up to the side of it as she inspected the vehicle before she turned to look at Kathryn.

"So this is one of the vehicles that you've been working on?" asked the street fighter curiously.

"Sure is," replied Kathryn proudly. "It's called a hover cycle. It's designed to travel across both land and water. It can travel up to 1000 miles, max. It is silent and undetectable for enemy scanners to pick up on radar."

"Whoa Kat, you've totally out done yourself again," praised Tate as he looked at the female duck in front of him.

"I've also built two more hover cycles like the first one," continued Kathryn as she removed the last two tarps to reveal two more hover cycles underneath them.

They were in the same style like the first hover cycle but instead of being blue, their coloring was that of red and yellow.

"I've been hiding these babies from the other brotherhood members so that none of the others would destroy them." Kathryn explained to the group before looking over at Riko with a smirk. "I hope that this is the transportation you are looking for."

Riko smirked back before she bent over the controls as she looked at some of the buttons on the control system.

"I have to admit that these guys are pretty awesome," stated Riko. "But the only question is…how do they work?"

"That's easy," responded Kathryn as she walked up on the other side of the hover cycle before she pointed to the blue button on the dashboard. "Press this button to start the engine, and then twist the handle bars on the bike. They will instantly bring the thrusters online.

"If you want to go forward just lean towards the front; to go faster press this red button on the left; if you want to slow down just press this green button here to decrease the power and if you want to stop just pressed this yellow button. It's as simple as that."

"And if I want to lean from side to side I just tilt my body in the direction I want to go, right?"

"That's right," replied Kathryn with a nod as she answered Riko's question.

"That's all I need to know," said Riko before she walked up to Duke and Tate. "Now all I need to do is figure out where the Twin Beaks are."

"I know where they are," piped Tate as he pointed a thumb at himself. "I've traveled all around Puckworld before I met up with Master Duke and became part of the Brotherhood of the Blades. I can lead you to Twin Beaks no problem."

"Alright then, you can lead the way," said Riko in approval. "And we'd better stock up on supplies, because I have a feeling that this journey is going to be a long one."

"Leave that to me kid," said Duke. "I'll gather up some of the supplies you and Tate will need for this trip."

"Thank you Duke," said Riko with a nod. "The two of us will depart as soon as we can."

"Make that three," piped in Kathryn as she stepped up to stand in front of Riko, Tate and Duke. "You're going to need a mechanic incase the hover cycles break down before you get anywhere near Twin Beaks."

Riko stared hard at Kathryn before she turned to look at Duke: "What do you think?"

"Well…as her brother I would say that it would be too dangerous for my sister to go." Duke replied. "But on the other hand, Kathryn does have a point."

"Then I guess we don't have much of a choice here," stepped in Tate as he shrugged his shoulders in defeat. "After all, I don't know much about machines and I'm pretty sure that Riko doesn't know much about how our technology works here on Puckworld."

"And Kathryn does bring up a very good point," Riko mumbled as she rubbed the underside of her chin. "Besides, she knows exactly how these hover cycles work better than any of us do…alright Kathryn you can come along."

"Yes!" shouted Kathryn as she jumped up into the air. "I'm finally going to get out of hideout!"

Riko rolled her eyes before she felt Duke grab her arm and gently pulled her to the side before he began to quietly talk to her.

"Riko, this trip of yours will be risky," whispered Duke. "And I'm a little worried on what might happen to my sister and apprentice."

"I understand," voiced Riko with a nod. "I'll make sure to keep a close eye on them and see to it that nothing happens to them."

"Thanks kid," whispered Duke. "I owe ya one."

"You don't owe me anything," replied Riko. "After all, you've already helped me on figuring out how I'm going to get to Twin Beaks so it's the least I could do for you."

Duke smiled before he placed a hand on her shoulder: "You guys take care of yourselves out there, okay?"

Riko nodded her head in reply. Duke nodded back before he turned and left the room. Riko walked back over to Tate and Kathryn as they began talking about the hover cycles.

"So what should we call these babies?" questioned Tate as he looked at the hover cycles. "I mean, we can't just keep calling these guys hover cycles."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," muttered Kathryn as she scratched the back of her head in thought. "Any ideas or suggestions on what we should call our new rides?"

"I think we should name them," stepped in Riko as she walked over to the blue hover cycle. "That way we can tell these guys apart from each other."

"That sounds like a good idea to me," replied Tate in agreement as he walked over to the red hover cycle. "And I know just what to call red here."

"And what's that?" asked Kathryn as she cocked an eyebrow at Tate.

"Desert Thunder," replied Tate with a smirk.

Kathryn rubbed the lower part of her beak in thought before nodding in approval: "Yeah…that sounds like a good name, it has a nice ring to it."

Riko nodded her head in agreement before looking down at the blue hover cycle beside her: "I think I'll call my ride Wind Chaser."

"Then that just leaves the yellow cycle," stated Tate as he turned his gaze on the cycle behind him.

"I already know what to call my ride," responded Kathryn as she stepped up to the yellow cycle. "I'm going to call it Doom Star."

"Those all sound like pretty good names to me," spoke Duke as he walked into the hanger with three leather shoulder bags in his arms.

Duke walked over to the trio and gave them each a bag: "There are enough supplies in these bags to last you throughout the trip."

"Thanks bro," said Kathryn as she gave Duke a kiss on the cheek. "And don't you worry we'll be back before you know it."

"I know," replied Duke as he ruffled his sister's hair a little. "You just watch yourselves out there, alright?"

"We will," responded Kathryn with a nod before she lifted up the seat of her cycle.

Underneath the seat was a secret compartment that could store any of the items that the young team would need on their trip. Kathryn placed her bag into the compartment before walking off to grab her tool kit. Riko and Tate lifted up their seats as they placed their bags inside the compartments of their cycles before placing their seats back down again.

"I've also placed a saber in your bag Riko, so use it if you ever face off against one of them drones on your journey." Duke explained to the young teen as he walked up to stand beside the street fighter.

"Thanks Duke," said Riko as she and Duke shook hands with each other.

Kathryn walked over to one of the tables within the hanger once she had placed her toolkit into the secret compartment and lowered her seat back down to its original spot. On the table were three sets of black helmets and goggles. Kathryn picked up one of the goggles and placed them over her eyes. She then slipped one of the helmets onto her head before she grabbed the other two helmets and goggles for her teammates. She walked over to Riko and Tate as she handed the helmets and goggles over to them.

"Safety first," stated Kathryn as Riko and Tate took the helmets and goggles from her.

The trio soon mounted their bikes after they had placed their goggles over their eyes and strapped their helmets onto their heads. Riko suddenly thought of something before she started her engines.

"Do any of the underground tunnels lead out of the city?" she asked Kathryn and Tate.

"Yeah, there is one within the hanger that leads out towards the outer boarders of the city," replied Kathryn as she pressed a white button on her control panel. "It will take us right out towards the desert so none of the drones will detect us."

Riko faced forward when she heard the sound of large metal doors opening in front of her. Two metal doors slowly slid open as they reviled a large tunnel ahead of the group. Riko smirked as she pressed the blue button to start her engine. The cycle hummed to life as it began to slowly lift itself and its rider up off the ground with Tate and Kathryn's bikes following after her as they revved their engines to life.

"Let's move out!" shouted Riko over the roaring of engines before she leaned forward on her hover cycle.

In that instant, the three cycles took off down the secret tunnel as Duke watched the trio disappear in the distance.

'_Please watch over them,_' prayed Duke within his head before he left the hanger.

In the tunnel

Tate was ahead of the group while Riko and Kathryn followed behind him. The 22 year old looked over his shoulder to shout at the two females behind him.

"We'll be approaching the exit in a few minute!"

"Alright!" yelled Riko to the group. "Once we get out of the other end we'll accelerate into hypersonic!"

"Roger!" echoed Kathryn and Tate in agreement.

"On my mark!" shouted Riko as she saw light up ahead of them. "Three, two, one…accelerate now!"

The trio quickly pressed the red button on their cycles. In that instant the engines kicked in as the bikes blasted forward while the trio hanged on tight.

Outside the walls of the city

Outside of the city, four drones were patrolling as they were looking for any escaped citizens that had gotten away before the evasion. All was quiet for them until they were suddenly blown back by an unknown burst of wind that came out of nowhere. The drones quickly picked themselves up as they use their scanners to see what had just hit them, but all they saw was a large landscape of desert in front of them.

The desert

Three cycles flew across the desert in a blur as the riders raced towards their destination. Tate was in front of the pack as he led the way to Twin Beaks while giving out a whoop of joy.

"Yee-haw!" yelled out Tate against the wind. "Now this is what I'm talkin' about!"

"At this speed we'll reach Twin Beaks in no time flat!" shouted Kathryn.

"Alright team, let's do it to it!" shouted Riko over the rush of wind.

With that, the trio disappeared across the desert not knowing the dangers or adventures that will await them out there.

To be continued


	2. Chapter 2

Silver haired street fighter of war

I do not own The Mighty Ducks or any of the other characters within this story, only the characters that I come up within my mind.

A young teenage/adult girl, who has been abandoned by her mother and ran away from a terrible orphanage, struggles to survive within the streets of New York City but that soon changes when she is suddenly transported to a different world. She now fights to survive a war that is taking place on a planet that isn't inhabited by humans, but by ducks. Can she survive?

The beginning and the first face off: Part 2

Riko, Kathryn and Tate have been traveling for about three days and they were no where near Twin Beaks yet. The trio was having a quick lunch break as they ate their ham sandwiches while they sat underneath a few over hanging rocks that protected them from the wind that whipped across the desert. The trio chatted between themselves while they rested up a little before continued on with their journey to Twin Beaks.

"So what can you tell me about these Saurian creeps that we might be facing in the future?" asked Riko before she bit into her sandwich.

"Well," started Tate as he scratched the bottom of his lower bill after he finished eating his sandwich. "I've heard that there were four Saurians who had landed on our planet. One of them is named Siege, he's a large lizard that's big on muscles, but he's not too smart on brains. The second lizard is Chameleon; he's a shape shifter so he can take on anyone's form in an instant. He's a skinny little creep with green skin. The third is an old Saurian called Wraith; he knows a lot of dark magic so he's really dangerous to go up against if you don't know how to defend yourself against him.

"As for the last one…well, let's just say that he's one of the most dangerous Saurians that you'll ever meet, but no one has ever seen the leader of the Saurian Empire. The lizard's name is Dragaunus and he's the head honcho of this whole invasion, he's also very cunning."

"Then we'd better watch ourselves if we're to ever face off against those lizards," stated Riko after she finished eating her sandwich before taking a swig of water from her canteen.

Kathryn had also finished her sandwich and was now drinking some water out of her canteen before she screwed the lid back on again: "I don't think we'll be seeing those Dino creeps for a while; for they never real show their ugly faces in public very much and rumor has it that they are hiding somewhere within the eastern section of the desert. But no one has ever seen the Saurian's headquarters for they say that it is hidden by an invisible shield that the lizards call their 'Cloak of Darkness', so it won't be easy to find them."

"No one said that it was going to be easy," said Riko as she stood up from the ground. "But we'll worry about those lizards later; right now we have other things that we should be thinking about."

"Yeah," piped in Tate as he and Kathryn stood up from the ground before they followed Riko to their hover bikes. "We'd gotta find Drake DuCaine's mask and we already know where that is."

"That's right, so we need get to Twin Beaks as fast as we can before something pops up to stop us." Kathryn stated as she and her traveling companions stashed their belongings into their secret compartments.

"Then let's kick it into high gear!" shouted Riko as she jumped on to her Wind Chaser after she strapped on her helmet and goggles.

Kathryn and Tate mimicked the street fighter as they strapped on their helmets and goggles before they too leapt onto their cycles. The trio started up their engines before they tore off through the desert once again with Tate in the lead.

"Tate, how far are we to Twin Beaks?" yelled Riko to the one that was leading them to their destination.

"Only two more hours away at this speed!" replied Tate over the roar of his engine. "But if we go into hypersonic then we'll be able to make it there before dark!"

"Alright, then lets not waste any time!" yelled Riko before pressing one of the buttons on her bike to go faster. "Let's charge it up to hypersonic!"

Kathryn and Tate quickly followed Riko's lead as they too charged their engines to go into hypersonic. In seconds, the three bikes and their riders became a blur.

Two hours later

The trio soon made it to Twin Beaks and Riko had to say the view of the mountains were a breath taking sight so see. The Twin Beaks were true to their name as two mountains stood close together with clouds floating past and across the peaks of the mountains. Like every other part of Puckworld, the mountains were bathed in a blood red glow. The trio drove their bikes towards the base of the mountains before shutting off their engines. The trio had parked their bikes between two huge boulders so that they could hide them from any wondering soul that might stumble upon them in the open. The street fighter and the two ducks dismounted from their bikes as they unclasped their helmets and slipped off their goggles before placing them both in the secret compartments of their bikes.

"So these are the Twin Beaks," muttered Riko as she stared up at the mountains before she lifted the bag, that held the saber Duke gave to her, out of the compartment and hung the strap over her right shoulder.

"Yeah," chimed Tate as he and Kathryn came to stand beside the street fighter and her bike with their own bags on their shoulders. "But their not as beautiful as I remember them."

"Well after Dragaunus and his fleet landed on our planet unannounced a few months ago, the first thing they did was change Puckworld into a land that best suited their cold blood." Kathryn reminded Tate as she looked over at the black duck that stood on Riko's left side.

"I know," growled Tate as he clenched his right hand into a fist. "And I swear on my last breath that I'm going to make those lizards pay for what they did to our home planet."

"And you will," reassured Riko as she placed her left hand on top of the 22 year old duck's shoulder to calm him. "But right now we need to focus on what we came here to do."

The two ducks nodded their heads at the silver haired street fighter before Tate took point once again: "Come on, when I last came here there was a path that led halfway up the mountain, that's where we'll find the entrance that will lead us into Drake DuCaine's tomb."

"But once we get inside we'll be facing off against many traps that had been set up within the tomb right?" questioned Riko as she and Kathryn walked behind the male duck.

"Yep," replied Tate bluntly as he looked over his shoulder to look at his two comrades. "That's why we have to tread carefully if we want to get out alive."

The two girls nodded their heads in agreement before the three of them found the path that will lead them up the mountain. The group walked on in silence as they treaded their way up the mountain with caution for the path was uneven beneath their feet, but they soon made it to the flat part of the mountain. The flat was so wide that it could hold a large aircraft and that was the first thing that Riko, Tate and Kathryn saw in front of them. The trio quickly hid behind a few boulders as they squatted down to hide from the aircraft that they spotted when they had arrived to their destination.

The aircraft looked like a large white fighter plane with a few green and golden stripes painted on its metal body. The front part of the aircraft was shaped like a duck mask with a black windshield running sideways across the front face of it.

"Kathryn, do you know what that aircraft is?" whispered Riko to the female duck beside her.

"Yeah," replied Kathryn as she stared at the aircraft in front of her. "That's one of the military's Aerowings, but what the heck is it doing here?"

"Probably for the same reason that we are," voiced Tate to his companions.

Suddenly, the trio saw a ramp dropping down from underneath the front part of the Aerowing. Riko, Tate and Kathryn quietly watched as a male duck came walking out of the space craft.

He had tan feathers and a tuff of hair/bangs that hung over his forehead and dark brown eyes that scanned the area around him. On the top part of his bill was a dark brown battle patch.

He was wearing a black short sleeve shirt, dark blue jeans and combat boots. He was wearing brown armor on his chest and shoulders with a white armored shoulder pad on his left shoulder. On the lower part of the duck's left arm was a tattoo of an up-side-down green triangle with two hockey sticks crisscrossing with each other at the bottom and on his right arm was a golden vambrace with a watch on top of it. The duck was muscular and stood to be about six feet tall, he also looked to be around 23 years old.

Riko narrowed her golden/amber eyes at the drake before she and her two traveling companions ducked back down behind the boulders.

"Looks like this guy is part of the military," whispered Riko to the two ducks.

"There's no doubt about that," voiced Tate in agreement with a nod of his head.

"Now what do we do?" questioned Kathryn.

"Okay, just let me think," said Riko as she began to think about the position they are in right now. "We all know that this guy is part of the military and that he is probably here looking for the mask just like we are."

"What do you suggest we do then?" questioned Tate as he crossed his arms impatiently.

"I think we should split up," answered Riko bluntly.

"Are you crazy!" hissed Tate in disbelief. "If we split up then we'll totally be out of contact with each other."

"Not if we have communication devices," stepped in Kathryn as she dug into her shoulder bag and pulled out three black earpiece devices. "These three earpiece devices are communicators that I had invented ten weeks ago. They can let people talk to each other from a long distance and will even work through 100 feet of rock; I should know for I've tested them out myself."

"Whoa," voiced Riko in amazement.

"Yet another unexpected twist," muttered Tate as he scratched the back of his head.

Kathryn only smiled as she handed the other two earpieces to Riko and Tate as all three of them inserted the devices into their ears.

"Okay, we're set," voiced Riko before she looked over the boulders again.

She spotted the tan duck walking towards the entrance that led into the tomb of Drake DuCaine. Riko looked back at the two ducks before her.

"Okay, here's the plan." Riko began. "Tate, you stay here and keep look out. Radio me if anything suspicious comes around here. Kathryn, you head back to the bikes and see if you can bring them up here."

"That won't be a problem," reassured Kathryn with a smile. "The bikes can be set on autopilot; as long as someone drives one of the bikes up here then the other two hover cycles will follow right behind the lead bike."

"Then you better get to it," said Riko.

"Hey, wait a minute here," interrupted Tate. "If I'm staying here and Kathryn is running back to the bikes then what are you going to be doing?"

"I'm going to be following that military hot-shot," answered Riko. "I'm going to see if I can get ahead of him before he reaches Drake DuCaine's mask first."

"You think you'll be okay?" questioned Kathryn in concern.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," reassured Riko to the female mallard. "Besides, I've been living on my own for a long time when I was a kid so I know how to take care of myself when I find myself in a jam."

"Just be careful, okay?" warned Tate with caution.

Riko nodded her head at Tate before she got up and ran out from behind the boulders. Kathryn was the next to go as she ran back down the path that had led the team up to Drake DuCaine's tomb and that only one left was Tate. The black duck leaned up against one of the boulders as he made himself comfortable as he took up watching for anything that might be suspicious to him.

In Drake DuCaine's tomb

Riko quietly walked through the corridor as she followed behind the tan duck. She was about 14 feet away from the mallard as she walked through the tomb without the drake knowing of her existence, but Riko knew that the duck was a lot smarter than he looked. The mallard came up to a corner before he disappeared around it. Riko calmly walked on but kept her guard up for the street fighter sensed that the drake was waiting for her around the corner. Riko slowly dug into her shoulder bag before she pulled out a silver and gold hilt of a saber with a red ruby sitting between the handle and hilt of the sword. She activated the saber as a golden blade appeared in a flash of light. Riko soon came to the corner before she quickly raised her blade up as she blocked a sliver blade of a saber that came down on her. The street fighter glared into the brown eyes of the duck that she had been following. Riko pushed back on the duck's saber before she stood in a defense position along with the tan mallard as they circled around each other.

"I had a feeling that someone was following me," growled the drake as he glared into Riko's golden eyes. "I thought it would be one of Dragaunus's drones, but I guess he sent one of his spies to follow me instead, huh?"

"Sorry to burst your bubble Hot-shot, but I'm not working for that Dino creep," stated Riko in a cold tone of voice.

"Oh really," retorted the duck with a smirk. "Then who are you working for."

"I work for no body," replied Riko coolly. "I only work for myself and I'm going to be the one who'll find the mask of Drake DuCaine."

"Then you'll have to get through me first!" exclaimed the duck before he shot towards Riko.

He did an upward slash, but Riko quickly dodged by back springing away from the mallard before charging at him with her own blade. The mallard quickly blocked Riko's saber with his own before he pushed the street fighter back. Riko made a quick recovery before she did another strike as she brought her saber down into a downwards slash, but the mallard quickly blocked again. The two fighters kept exchanging blows on each other before Riko was suddenly pushed against the corridor wall as she locked blades with the mallard. The street fighter glared into the mallard's brown eyes as her cold golden eyes pierced into the duck's soul.

"Not bad," panted Riko before she smirked. "But I'm better."

The street fighter's right hand let go of the hilt of the saber before she punched the mallard in the gut. The tan duck let out a grunt as he stumbled backwards while holding his stomach in pain. The mallard glared at Riko with a smirk.

"Ha!" scoffed the mallard. "You call that a punch?"

"Just wanted to go easy on you," retorted Riko as she got into a defense position. "After all, it wouldn't be much of a challenge if you suddenly dropped to the floor too soon."

"It sounds to me like you know how to fight from experience!" grunted the mallard as he slashed his saber down on Riko's once more as the silver haired human blocked his attack.

"That's because I've been living on the streets my whole life, and that's all you need to know!" exclaimed Riko as she pushed against the duck and his blade before she shoved the duck away from her again.

The force that she put into pushing the duck away from her made the mallard slam into the other wall of the corridor with a grunt. Suddenly, the wall that the duck had slammed into gave weigh as a small panel was pressed inwards by the mallard's back. The duck's and the human's eyes widened when they suddenly felt the ground under their feet starting to shift. Riko knew that shifting ground was never a good sign and so did the mallard. The two of them quickly shared a look with each other before they took off running. The floor that the duck and street fighter had been standing on a few moments ago began to fall apart as the bricks fell in a dark endless pit underneath. Riko and the duck were running as fast as their legs could carry them as they tried to get to safer ground. Their sabers had been sheathed and stashed back into their bags before they had started to run for their lives. Riko and the duck ran side by side together before they finally made it to safer ground, but the piece of the floor that the duck had just been standing on suddenly fell underneath his weight and before the mallard knew it he was falling into the endless abyss.

Riko quickly saw what was happening and on impulse she grabbed the mallard's right arm as she laid over the edge on the solid part of the floor. Riko kept a tight grip on the mallard's arm as the drake looked up at the silver haired human with a confused look on his face before he felt himself being lifted up to the solid edge of the floor. Riko kept pulling the mallard up with all her strength until he was in reach of the edge of the pit. The mallard quickly grabbed on to the edge as he began to pull himself up while Riko kept pulling him up by his right arm. After a few moments, the tan duck was on solid ground with the street fighter as the two panted for breath as the silver haired human let go of the mallard's arm.

"Man, that was too close," panted Riko as she leaned back on her hands while she sat on the floor before she looked at the kneeling form of the tan duck in front of her. "Are you okay Hot-shot?"

The duck looked over at Riko with an eyebrow raised up in confused matter before he began to talk: "I don't understand…why did-?"

"Let's just say that I'm the type of person that doesn't hesitate to help people," replied Riko with a shrug of her shoulders. "No matter how different they look."

The duck frowned at Riko before he stood up from the ground: "Well I guess I should say 'thank you' and I guess I owe you one."

"The only thing you owe me is an explanation," stated Riko as she stood up and began to dust her self off. "What exactly are you doing here?"

"I'm here looking for Drake DuCaine's mask," answered the tan duck. "And what exactly are you doing here anyways kid?"

"For your information tough guy; I happen to be 18 years old," retorted Riko as she poked the mallard in the chest. "And I'm here looking for the mask too because I promised someone that I would find it for him."

"Oh, and who exactly is this person?" countered the duck as he glared down at Riko.

Riko had just noticed that she only came up to the ducks chin, but she wasn't fazed one bit about the size of this duck for she had faced bigger opponents than him on the streets of New York.

"Joseph Stonefeather." Riko bluntly replied as she crossed her arms over her chest.

The street fighter wasn't surprised when she saw the duck's angry stare change into a shock of surprise.

"Stonefeather, alive?" voiced the duck in disbelief before he shook his head. "No, that can't be possible. The general of the resistance said that Joseph died before the invasion started."

"Hate to prove you wrong Hot-shot, but I just met up with Joseph when I first appeared on your planet," stated Riko. "And he strictly told me to come here to Twin Beaks to find the mask of Drake DuCaine. He also told me to find a duck that has the right qualities of being a leader. Although I'm kind of surprised that you seem to know this guy like three other ducks I just met on my journey so far."

"Joseph Stonefeather was a professor at my school." The tan duck said as he explained to Riko on how he knew the 40 year old duck. "He always talked about the legends of Drake DuCaine and about the Saurian overlords that invaded Puckworld, but how exactly did you meet up with Mr. Stonefeather?"

"I'll explain as we go along," replied Riko as she began to walk. "Right now I think we should start looking for the mask."

"Listen kid, don't order me around," growled the duck in anger. "I'm a high ranked solider in the military."

"And I'm the best street fighter of New York City," countered Riko as she began to walk down the corridor again. "Which so happens to be on a planet called earth."

The duck surprise grew as he stared at the silver haired street fighter walking away from him before he ran up to walk up beside Riko.

"You mean to tell me that you're one of the humans that my teacher keeps talking about within our class?" questioned the duck with a frown.

"You could say that," replied Riko before she glared at the duck beside her. "And don't even think of calling me human, because I have a name like everyone else on this planet."

"Oh, and what is your name?" questioned the duck suspiciously.

"Can't tell you," countered Riko with a smirk.

"Why not?" asked the duck angrily.

"Because a kid shouldn't reveal their names to strangers without knowing the person's name first," retorted Riko with a raised eyebrow.

The duck growled at Riko before letting out a huff: "You're one stubborn human, but fine. My name is Canard Thunderbeak, high ranked general within the military and you are?"

"Riko Hikari, number one street fighter of planet earth." replied the street fighter proudly.

The duck, Canard, frowned at Riko: "You sure like to boast about yourself, don't you?"

"Same goes for you," countered Riko with a smirk.

Canard glowered at the human before turning his head away from her and that's when he stopped Riko by throwing his left arm out in front of her.

"Wait a minute," halted Canard as he looked down at the panels on the floor.

Riko glared at the tan mallard for a moment before she looked down at the ground and saw a few bricks sticking up out of the floor. Riko glared at the bricks suspiciously before she looked down at the ground and found a rock, the size of her fist, sitting next to her left foot. Riko picked up the rock before glancing at one of the taller bricks that stuck out of the floor. She threw the rock at it before it made contact with the upturned brick. What happened next made Canard and Riko step back in surprise. A jet of white hot fire suddenly shot up from the ground, ten feet in front of them.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Riko as she watched the column of flame slowly die down in front of her. "Now that's what I call 'Playing with fire'."

"If we so much as step on one of those upturned bricks then we'll be burned to a crisp by those flames." Canard stated as he stared down at the bricks that stood between them and the mask.

"Hmm…" Riko hummed as she scratched her chin in thought before looking up at the roof above her. "I think I might have an idea on how we can get across."

Canard looked at the street fighter for a moment before turning his gaze upwards to the roof as well. He quickly caught on to Riko's idea as he grabbed something from inside his shoulder bag.

What he pulled out was a wristband with a flat circular black object on top of it. Three buttons dotted the top of the black circle. Each of the buttons had a different color that resided from red, green, to yellow. Canard suddenly attached the wristband to Riko's right wrist with the street fighter frowning at it in curiosity.

"What's this thing?" questioned Riko as she raised the wristband up to have a better look at it.

"That is a puck grappling hook," explained Canard as he told the street fighter what the strange gear was. "The red button will shoot the grappling hook; the yellow button will reel and release the rope that is attached to the grappling hook and the green button will detach you from the rope. You got that?"

"Yeah, I got it," replied Riko before she looked back up at the roof again.

Riko pointed her arm up towards the roof at a slight angel while making sure to lower the back of her hand downwards so that it wouldn't get hit by…whatever it was that might come shooting out of the circler object that was on her wrist. Riko made sure to carefully aim her puck grappling hook before he pressed the red button. Riko got a kickback motion from the wristband that was attached to her arm as a black blur shot out from the launcher and sailed towards the roof of the tomb as a thick cord of rope followed behind it. The blur quickly snagged the ceiling with a loud clang before Riko gave the cord a firm tug to make sure that it was secured.

"Okay, it's attached," confirmed Riko as she looked over at Canard.

"Alright," started Canard. "Now, release a little more rope before detaching it."

Riko rolled her eyes at the duck before doing what he instructed her to do. Once she got the right length of the rope she instantly cut the cord from her grappling hook launcher after she grabbed onto the rope. Riko gave the rope another firm tug before looking at the tan duck.

"I'll swing over first to see if it's safe and once I get over to the other side I'll send the rope back to you."

Canard frowned at the girl in distrust, but decided to let Riko go first as he nodded his head at the silver haired girl. Riko nodded back before taking a few steps back then jumped onto the rope as she let it carry her across the other side. The street fighter swung over the upturned bricks before she landed safely on the other side of the room where the panels on the floor were even with each other. Riko tapped her left foot on the ground to make sure that it was safe before grabbing another fist size stone off the ground and quickly tied it to the end of the rope.

"Heads up!" shouted Riko as she threw the rope back to Canard.

Canard easily grabbed the rope as it was passed over to him before he swung over to the other side and landed beside Riko.

"Not bad kid," complemented Canard with a smirk as he let the rope go where it hung in the middle of the trap that he and Riko had safely avoided. "You seem to be a natural at avoiding traps."

"Comes with avoiding gang members that want to beat you to a pulp," said Riko before she and Canard continued on down the corridor.

"So who else knows about Joseph Stonefeather?" asked Riko suddenly with interest.

"Other than me, my best friend, his brother and everyone else on Puckworld all knew Stonefeather for his wisdom on the history and legends of our planet." Canard explained as he began to tell Riko about Joseph. "Stonefeather was once a thief until he changed his ways and became one of the best soldiers in the military, but he soon retired after he became hooked on to the legends of Drake DuCaine. But how he knew about humans was a mystery to me and the people of Puckworld. Most of us thought he was crazy, but after seeing you…well, I'm starting to think that maybe Stonefeather wasn't crazy after all."

Riko looked at the tan mallard for a moment before asking another question: "So…who's this friend of yours?"

"My friend's name is Wildwing Flashblade," replied Canard softly. "He was the best goalie in my school. He's the same age as me, but the most interesting part of him is that he is the only duck that has white feathers."

"A white feathered duck?" said Riko with a raised eyebrow before looking ahead of her. "Well if he is a white duck then I'm a pink loving girly-girl."

Canard chuckled while he rolled his eyes in amusement: "You remind me of Wildwing's brother, Nosedive. For that kid would always be the one to crack the first joke whenever he gets the chance, but he was also pretty annoying at times."

"And how old is this Nosedive?" asked Riko curiously.

"I would say…17 years old," replied Canard as he thought over how old Wildwing's brother was. "That means he's at least one year younger than you."

Riko smirked before she suddenly saw light up ahead of her. Canard also noticed and the two of them quickly started running before they entered a large room. The roof was at least ten feet tall and the room was seven feet wide in length, but what stood in the middle of the room was what really got the two searchers attention. Sitting on a five foot pedestal was the very thing that the silver haired human and tan duck have been looking for. A white duck shaped mask sat on the pedestal with a small shaft of light pouring down from the roof above the searcher's heads.

"The mask," voiced Canard as he began to take a step forward.

"No wait!" exclaimed Riko as she suddenly grabbed Canard's arm and pulled him back.

Canard turned to glare at the human before Riko pointed at the ground before them. The duck looked down and saw 5 foot square panels on the floor, but was surprised to see that some of the panels were in a different color. A few of the panels were a light blue marble while the rest were dark grey marble. Riko dug into her bag before pulling out her saber. She quickly activated it before touching the tip of her blade down on one of the blue marble panels before she lightly pressed down on it. There was little resistance as the panel slowly moved underneath Riko's weight.

A sound caught Riko's and Canard's ears as they quickly turned their heads to the source of the sound and saw a giant ax blade come sweeping towards them.

"Look out!" shouted Canard as he and Riko quickly jumped back from the blade that nearly sliced them in half.

The giant ax kept going before its blade lodged itself into the left side wall of the room.

"That was too close," stated Canard as he looked at the giant ax that was stuck in the wall.

Riko only nodded before walking up to the panels once again. She placed the tip of her saber down on the grey marble before putting her weight on it. The grey marble didn't move or budge an inch after the street fighter pushed all of her weight down on her sword. Riko lifted her saber up before deactivating the blade. She placed the hilt of her saber back into her bag before looking at the scene before her.

The panels were all spread out like a checkerboard with the blue panels touching the grey panels and so on. Riko rubbed her chin before stepping on to the grey panel that she had just touched with her saber. Canard watched from behind as tension started to rise up within his muscles. Riko carefully touched her right foot to the next grey panel before she lightly pressed down on it. Like the first grey panel, the second one didn't move. Riko turned to look over her shoulder at Canard.

"The grey panels are safe to walk on," informed Riko to the tan duck behind her. "Make sure you tread carefully and whatever you do, don't touch the blue panels."

"That I pretty much figured out myself," stated Canard in sarcasm as he stepped on an opposite grey panel behind Riko.

Riko and Canard quickly made their way across the room by jumping on the grey panels while trying to avoid stepping on the blue panels along the way. They finally made it to the other side before they walked over to the pedestal to where the mask of Drake DuCaine sat upon it.

"So this is the mask of Drake DuCaine?" asked Riko out of curiosity as she stared at the white mask in fascination.

Canard only nodded his head before he slowly moved to grab the mask off from the pedestal. The drake's fingers slowly wrapped around the mask before he lifted it up from the pedestal that it sat on. He and Riko stood still as they waited for another trap to jump them, but everything was quiet around them. The two explores let out a sigh of relief before Canard placed the mask in his shoulder bag.

"Okay, we got the mask," stated the tan mallard as he looked at Riko. "Now let's get out of here while we're still in once piece."

Riko nodded her head in agreement as she began to follow the mallard, but stopped when she heard the shifting of stone behind her. The street fight quickly turned around to see a small brick on the wall slowly shifting as it sunk into the wall before slid sideways to reveal a deep hole behind it. Riko blinked at the hole that had now reviled itself to her before she walked towards it. Canard noticed that Riko wasn't behind him and quickly turned around to see the silver haired human walking towards the wall of the tomb.

"Kid?" started Canard as he looked at the human confusingly, "What are you doing?"

Riko didn't answer him as she only walked towards the wall before slowly reaching into the hole. The street fight slowly pulled out an old leather book with a picture of a wolf on the front of it. The edges of the book were worn and tattered, but still in good condition. Canard came up to Riko to see what she had found and raised an eyebrow when he saw the book.

"That's weird," he muttered as he gently took the book out of Riko's hands while examining it. "Why would a journal be in Drake DuCaine's tomb?"

"Who knows," spoke Riko with a shrug before taking the journal back into her hands again. "But we might as well take it along with us."

Just then, a familiar voice rang in Riko's ear: "_**Riko! Riko are you there?**_"

Riko quickly raised her hand to the ear that held her communicator: "I'm here Tate, what's going on?"

"_**We have a major problem out here girl!**_" exclaimed Tate on the communicator. "_**There are three Saurian warships heading over here!**_"

"Not good," muttered Riko before she quickly stuffed the book that she was holding into her shoulder bag. "I'll meet you out there as soon as I can, until then just keep a low profile!"

"_**You got it chief!**_" replied Tate before he signed off.

"We've got trouble coming our way," stated Riko as she turned to face Canard. "It seems like that we have some unwelcome guests approaching our coordinates."

"The Saurians?" guessed Canard.

Riko nodded her head as Canard let out a sigh: "That's just great!"

"Well let's get out of here before we're toast!" exclaimed Riko as she quickly made her way back to the panels.

Riko stopped as she slowly placed her foot on the grey panel, but quickly leapt back when the panel suddenly shifted underneath her weight. Riko quickly ducked when an arrow suddenly shot over her head before she straightened up again.

"Great," grumbled Riko as Canard quickly ran up to her. "Were back to where we've started."

"Now what do we do?" asked Canard as he glared at the human girl for answers.

Riko began to think before she thought of something: "Canard, why don't you give that mask a test drive."

Canard looked at Riko for a moment before he pulled out the white mask and placed it on his face. Once the mask was firmly placed on Canard's face it changed its form into a golden mask with red eyes glaring at Riko. The eyes flashed as they began to scan the panels in front of them. An image showed up in front of Canard's vision as he analyzed which of the panels were safe to walk on.

"Okay, it seems like the panels have a mechanism that switches when the person attempts to take the mask out of the tomb." Canard explained to Riko the situation before them. "So the only way across is to step on the blue panels."

"I was kind of thinking that too," muttered Riko as she crossed her arms over her chest. "But I wasn't sure that we should cross the blue panels for I thought that it might have been a double trap if we'd stepped on them."

"Who ever built this tomb wanted to make sure that who ever stole the mask wouldn't get out alive," stated Canard as he stepped on to one of the blue panels with Riko stepping on to the other panel right beside him.

"Or it could be that they designed this place to test the one who found the mask to see if he was worthy to have it or not." Riko suggested as she and Canard hopped across the checkerboard floor before they finally made it to the other side.

"We'll have to think about it later," said Canard as he changed the subject. "Right now we've got to get out of here before those Saurian slime-balls catch us here."

Riko only nodded her head before she and Canard started to run down the corridors, their footsteps echoing against the walls of the tomb. Riko quickly undid the puck grabbling hook from her wrist before tossing it over to Canard who caught it.

"Get ready to use that gadget!" exclaimed Riko.

"What about you?" questioned Canard as his red eyes glared at Riko as he ran beside her "How will you get across?"

"That cord is still hanging over the trap so I'll be able to grab it by using a little trick that I've taught myself during my fright with a weak gang member that had me cornered in an alley." Riko replied with a smirk as she glanced at the duck for a moment before looking a head of her again.

Though the mask didn't show it, Canard had his doubt that this simple human can jump all the way to the middle of the room and grab the rope that was hanging above the trap that they were coming up to. The fire trap came into their view and before Canard knew it, Riko had raced ahead of him at an incredible speed. Canard was taken by surprise as he witnessed the incredible speed that this ordinary human possessed.

Riko never faltered as she kept increasing her speed until she suddenly leapt towards the left wall of the corridor before bouncing off of it to the next wall. She kept bouncing off the walls before she came to the center of the trap where the rope was hanging. Riko bounded off the right wall before grabbing onto the rope as she swung her self over to the other end of the room. Canard was impressed by this girl's performance, but he didn't falter within his steps as he attached the puck grappling hook to his left wrist before firing of the cord.

The teeth of the grappling hook bit down on the ceiling as Canard quickly swung himself over to the other side where Riko was waiting for him. He landed on the ground before he and Riko quickly started to run down the corridor again. Riko quickly touched her ear piece as she connected with the Tate again.

"Tate, are you there?" asked Riko over the communicator.

"_**Yeah, I'm here,**_" replied Tate over the line. "_**And Kathryn's here with me too, along with the hover cycles.**_"

"Good," said Riko. "I want you two to keep out of sight from the Saurian warships before I exit the tomb."

"_**You got it!**_" replied Tate.

"Your comrades won't be able to hide themselves for long," stated Canard as he glanced at the human running beside him.

"_**Riko, who's that talking with you,**_" asked Tate on the communicator.

"You remember the duck that I was suppose to follow?" asked Riko to the black duck on her earpiece.

"_**Yeah,**_" replied Tate in a confused tone.

"Well…let's just say I had a run in with him and now I'm working with him as we're trying to make our way out of Drake DuCaine's tomb."

There was silence on the other end of the communicator for a moment before Tate spoke again: "_**Yet another unexpected twist in our journey, bummer.**_"

A rare smile appeared on Riko's face when she heard what Tate had said. Boy, this guy sure likes to make a silly comment on things. Her smile quickly disappeared as it was replaced with a frown before she turned to look at Canard.

"So what do you think that my teammates should do?" asked Riko to the tan duck.

"Tell your teammates to get to the Aerowing," answered Canard in a commanding tone. "Get it ready to fly at a moment's notice."

"Right," said Riko before she talked into her earpiece. "Did you get all that Tate?"

"_**Yep!**_" replied Tate on the other end. "_**I'll get the ship up and running in no time, just make sure that you two get out of the tomb as fast as you can.**_"

"I'm counting on you," spoke Riko before she cut off her communication.

"The pit is coming up," warned Canard.

"Then I'm guessing that you will be swing us across?" asked Riko as she looked at the tan duck beside her.

Canard's only response was grabbing Riko around the waist with his free arm and lifting her off the ground before pointing the puck grappling hook up towards the ceiling once again. The mallard fired off the grappling hook as the teeth once again bit into the hard stone of the ceiling. Riko placed one arm around Canard's neck as the mallard swung the two of them across the pit. Both of them landed on the other side of the pit with Canard letting go of Riko in mid-flight. The two of them continued to run towards the exit where they would meet up with Tate and Kathryn.

It seemed like hours for the two as they ran down the corridor but they soon saw the exit up ahead of them.

"We're almost there!" exclaimed Canard.

But as soon as the words left his beak, the tomb around Riko and Canard began to shake.

"Just our luck," muttered Riko as she looked up at the ceiling with a frown before looking straight ahead again.

The two of them quickly picked up their speed as they headed towards the exit and that was when they noticed the ceiling over the entrance beginning to fall apart.

"JUMP!" shouted Canard as he and Riko quickly dived towards the entrance when they came within three feet of it.

Riko and Canard cleared the exit before the ceiling collapse over the entrance as they rolled across the ground before stopping to look back at the entrance that had been sealed behind them.

"That was too close," panted Canard as he and Riko knelt on the ground for a few minutes before standing up.

"At least we'd got out," stated Riko to the tan mallard.

"Riko!" called a voice from behind the two.

Riko and Canard quickly turned to see Kathryn standing near the open hatch of the Aerowing as the engines began to roar to life.

"Hurry up or those Saurian warships will catch us!" shouted Kathryn over the roar of the engines.

Riko quickly ran towards the Aerowing with Canard standing back as he looked at Kathryn in surprise. Why was a 16 year old here?

"Canard, don't slack!" shouted Riko as she turned to glare back at the tan duck.

Canard quickly broke out of his gaze before he quickly ran to catch up with Riko. Kathryn and Riko quickly ran up the ramp with Canard following behind them. The ramp quickly closed behind the trio once they had boarded the Aerowing as they quickly came to the cockpit where Tate was waiting for them. Tate was sitting in the copilot seat as he started up the engines of the Aerowing before he turned in his seat to look at Riko, Kathryn and Canard.

"What took you guys?" asked Tate in a joking tone of voice.

"You don't want to know," replied Riko as she came up to stand behind Tate.

Canard quickly took the pilot seat as he grabbed onto the wheel before easing back on it. Riko quickly grabbed onto the Tate's seat so that she could balance herself as the Aerowing began to take off from the ground. Kathryn was seated in one of the seats that stood near one of the control panels with her seatbelt keeping her in place. Riko managed to regain her balance before she looked at the radar to see if she could spot any of the Saurian warships and caught three blips on the screen.

"Those Saurian warships are coming up pretty fast on the screen," informed Riko to Canard.

"Yeah," replied Canard calmly as he looked down at the radar screen. "But something is bothering me here, how did those Saurian slime-balls find us?"

"Who knows," replied Riko as she looked at the tan mallard. "But our main priority is to get…"

Riko suddenly paused when she suddenly sensed something up ahead of them: "Canard!"

"On it!" exclaimed Canard as he quickly made a right turn that nearly sent Riko falling to the ground.

A laser was fired at them from the front of Aerowing as it flew towards one of the other Saurian warships where the laser made contact with it. The Saurian warship exploded in a ball of fire.

"What on Puckworld was that?" questioned Tate in surprise as he turned to look over his shoulder at what had happened behind them.

"Me thinks that there are more Saurian warships beyond the horizon," replied Kathryn in a Shakespearian voice.

"That's pointing out the obvious Sherlock," muttered Riko in sarcasm as she glanced at Kathryn with a frown.

Canard pressed the sides of the mask as the red eyes glowed for a moment as he glared out the front window of the Aerowing. An image appeared before Canard's vision as he spotted 11 Saurian warships flying in front the Aerowing.

"We have 11 Saurian warships ahead of us," warned Canard to his three passengers.

"Well that's just dandy!" exclaimed Tate in anger. "Now what do we do?"

"Canard, does the Aerowing have hyper boost installed in its system?" questioned Riko to the tan mallard.

"Yes it does," replied Canard as he turned to look at Riko. "Why, do you have a plan?"

"I do," said Riko. "But it might come down to blasting our way through some of the Saurian warships."

"Well if it comes down to that, then I say lets go for it!" exclaimed Tate as he punched his right fist into the air.

Canard blinked in surprise as he was startled by the black duck's enthusiasm and his surprised grew when Kathryn suddenly popped in.

"I'm willing to fight beside you Riko until my last breath."

Riko was a little surprised by her two traveling companion's words but soon smirked at them before looking over at Canard.

"Well Hot-Shot, what do you say?" started Riko. "Are you in, or out?"

Canard stared at Riko for a moment before turning his head to the front window again: "If you're willing to jump head first into battle that much, then who am I to argue."

Riko smirked at Canard before looking down at Tate: "Hey Tate, how good are you at handling weapons?"

"Pretty good, why?"

"Have you ever shot a, laser cannon, before?"

Tate suddenly got the idea on what Riko wanted him to do: "I can try, but I don't know much about this Aerowing or what buttons I should press to activate the cannons."

"I can help you with that," stepped in Canard. "But I don't know how you're going to fire at the Saurian warships since they're invisible and we can't pick them up on radar."

"Just leave that to Kathryn," said Riko with a wink. "After what I heard from her brother, she's the best computer hacker on this planet."

Canard looked doubtful at first but decided to follow along with Riko's plan…for now. Riko quickly ran over to Kathryn's seat before standing beside the female duck.

"Kathryn, do you think you can create an electric impulse to mess up the Saurian's cloaking system?" asked Riko to the young duck.

"Does a duck need a beak?" Kathryn joked with a smirk as she began to press a few buttons on the console. "Just give me a few seconds to set up."

Riko nodded her head at Kathryn before turning to look at Canard who looked back at her. Canard only nodded at Riko in understanding before he turned the wheel to the right as he made a 'U' turn. He headed towards the last two remaining Saurian warships that were chasing them. Kathryn typed madly on the console as she tried to fine-tune the right frequency that will shut down the Saurian warships cloaking system temporarily.

Riko quickly made her way back up to the front of the Aerowing before she held on tight to the back of Tate's seat when Canard started dodging around the lasers that were being fired at the Aerowing.

"Boy, these lizards sure are trigger happy!" exclaimed Riko to the two male ducks in front of her.

"Mostly the warships are piloted by hunter drones," said Canard before he dodged around another laser that was fired at them.

"Then that just makes it easy for us," stated Riko as she looked over at the tan duck. "Because I have no problem, what so ever, in killing the Suarian's machines that don't have minds to think for them selves."

"Ditto," said Tate in agreement before he turned to look over at Kathryn. "Are you almost done back there Kat, because we can't keep dodging the warship's laser fire for very much longer!"

"Just a few more clicks and…done!" shouted Kathryn as she pressed the last key on the console.

In a few seconds, the warships that were invisible suddenly appeared on the radar screen.

"Now to take down them Saurian toys!" exclaimed Riko. "Fire the laser cannons!"

"You got it Riko," said Tate before he pressed the blue button on the left side of the console.

Two blue beams shot out from the front of the Aerowing as they headed straight towards the two Saurian warships before they exploded into smithereens.

"Bull's eye!" shouted Tate with a snap of his fingers.

"Don't get too cocky just yet," warned Canard as he glared at Tate. "We still have 11 more warships on our hands."

"That doesn't mean we have to defeat all of them," stepped in Riko as she looked over at the tan duck. "All we have to do it take down 4 or 5 of those ships and then make a brake for it."

"Why can't we just take out all of them?" questioned Tate as he looked up at the silver haired street fighter. "I bet we could take them on no problem."

"True, but we also have to think about this possibility. What if we hang around here for too long and more warships show up to ambush us?"

"Good point."

"Besides, we've already completed our mission," continued Riko. "There's no point in hanging around this area any more and I promised Duke that I get you and Kathryn back in one piece."

Canard's red eyes widened in surprise as he turned to look at Riko: "Did you just say, Duke, as in Duke L'Orange?"

"What's it to ya?" questioned Riko as she glared at the tan duck suspiciously.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," said Canard in annoyance as he glared at the silver haired human before him.

"Just focus on the warships Hot-shot!" barked Riko at the tan duck.

"Scary," muttered Tate with an amused look on his face.

Canard glared at Riko in displeasure for he didn't like some human teenager ordering him around, but he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. Canard quickly pulled back on the wheel as he dodged around another laser that was shot at the Aerowing. Tate quickly pressed the same button as two lasers quickly shot two more Saurian warships out of the sky. They continued on like this until only 7 warships were left standing.

"Now's our chance," said Riko before she turned to look at Canard. "Let's get out of here while we still have a chance Hot-shot!"

"Then you better take up a chair Quicksilver," stated Canard as he made a 'U' turn to face away from the Saurian warships. "The hyper boost has a real kick to it."

Riko raised an eyebrow at Canard but decided to let it go as she quickly turned and ran towards one of the seats of the Aerowing. The street fight quickly buckled her self in before Canard placed his hand on a leaver and pushed it forward. The Aerowing suddenly lurched forward as the thrusters exploded with energy as it shot across the sky at a breakneck speed. If it were for their seatbelts, Riko and Kathryn would have been thrown out of their seats from the sudden burst of speed. The Aerowing continued on at a high speed for about an hour before it finally returned to its normal speed.

"Whoa, you weren't kidding when you said that the hyper boost had a real kick to it," voiced Tate as he looked over at Canard in amazement.

"I did warn you," stated Canard before he turned to look at Riko and Kathryn. "How are you two back there?"

"Peachy," replied Kathryn as she looked over at Riko, who was shaking her head to clear it.

"Just give me a few minutes to catch my bearings," said Riko as she placed her right hand on the side of her head before she unbuckled her seat belt. "Any sign of the Saurian warships on radar Tate?"

Tate looked down and saw nothing on the radar: "Nope, it looks like we've lost them."

"Thank Drake," sighed Kathryn as she leaned against the back of her seat.

Canard took off the mask as it changed back to its normal state before he placed it in his shoulder bag that sat near his feet before putting the Aerowing on autopilot.

"Now that we are out of danger, you mind telling me who you two are?" questioned Canard as he looked at Tate and Kathryn with a firm glare within his eyes. "And why a kid, like you, is doing with an older duck and human in the first place."

"My name is Tate Jetwing," said the black duck as he pointed himself before he pointed at Kathryn. "And that's Kathryn L'Orange, my Master's little sister."

"And the reason why she came with us is because she knows a lot about technology," finished Riko as she sat in her seat with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Still a battle field is no place for a kid," said Canard as he glared over at Riko.

"Hey, if we didn't bring her along then we would have been in deep trouble if one of our hover cycles broke down in the middle of the desert!" countered Riko as her cold golden eyes glared at Canard, but the mallard wasn't fazed by the street fighter's eyes as he returned it with a glare of his own.

"Hey, hey, can we not get into a fight here," cut in Tate as he looked between the older drake and silver haired human in worry. "I mean, we did get away from the Saurian war fleet after all."

"He's right," stepped in Kathryn. "We've got the mask and we'd just barely escaped with our lives, so shouldn't we just be thankful that we're alive."

Riko let out a sigh before she turned her chair around so that the back was facing Canard: "I guess you two are right, but there's still the dilemma on who should have the mask."

"Well…who was the first one to touch the mask?" asked Kathryn as she looked at Riko for an answer.

Riko simply jabbed her thumb over her shoulder towards Canard as she answered the female duckling's question.

"Then that means…the mask belongs to him right?" stepped in Tate as he scratched the back of his head uncomfortably.

Riko turned her seat around to face Tate with a frown before sighing in defeat when she knew that Canard had the right to hold the mask, for he was the one who touched it first before she did.

"Fine," said Riko as she stood up from her seat and walked away from the three ducks. "Hot-shot can have the mask, and I'm not about to fight over some ancient relic. Besides, Joseph told me to give it to a duck that's supposed to be a leader who would free the ducks of Puckworld from those over grown lizard throw rugs."

Tate snickered when he heard what Riko said: "Ha-ha, 'Lizard throw rugs' that's a good one."

Riko didn't turn around to face Tate, but she did let a smile spread out across her face as she laughed inside to herself. She opened the back door that led to the back hanger of the Aerowing where the hover cycles were sitting in.

"Tell me when we're near the boundaries of the city," said Riko before the door closed behind her.

Canard, Kathryn and Tate stared at the door for a moment before they turned to look at each other.

"She's a real mystery…that human," voiced Tate as he pointed towards the door that Riko had disappeared behind.

"More like annoying if you ask me," grumbled Canard as he turned around to pilot the Aerowing again.

"She's not so bad," reasoned Kathryn as she stood up from her chair. "I'm just thinking that Riko isn't really used to having people surrounding her."

"Like one of those solitary kind of people?" guessed Tate as he looked over at his friend.

Kathryn nodded her head before she turned towards the door: "I'm just going to check up on the hover cycles and see if they're in good condition to travel back to the city again."

"I think I'll come with you," stated Tate as he stood up from his seat.

Canard didn't say anything as he only listened to the footsteps of the two ducks walking out of the cockpit. Once he heard the door close behind them he turned the Aerowing back onto autopilot before he picked up his shoulder bag again. The mallard slowly opened the flap of his shoulder bag before pulling out the mask. Canard traced his fingers over the mask for a moment before he stood up from his seat and made his way over to Riko's shoulder bag. He opened the flap of the shoulder pack and slipped the mask inside it.

"Look after this mask Quicksilver," muttered Canard in a low voice. "And protect it from those lizards, because I might need your assistance again."

The hanger

Riko was leaning against her hover cycle, Wind Chaser, as she watched Kathryn check up on her bike, Doom Star, while Tate stood beside Riko with his arms crossed over his chest.

"So how does it look?" asked Riko to the female duck, "Any problems?"

"Nope," replied Kathryn as she turned to look at the silver haired human. "Everything seems to be in top working condition."

"That's good," said Tate with a smile. "That means we won't be having any technical difficulties when we get back to the hideout."

"Let's just hope that those drones don't find the secret entrance before we do," warned Riko before a frown came on to her face. "There's one thing that I don't get, why are you two mallards hanging around me when you should be hanging around with your own kind?"

"You mean hang around with that military drake?" questioned Tate before he snorted as he let out a laugh. "No thanks, besides you seem way more interesting to hang around with."

"Yeah," stepped in Kathryn with a smile. "Besides, my brother always keeps telling me to hang around ducks that are around my age and you're the closest one that I can hang out with, even though you're two years older than me."

Riko looked at the two ducks in surprise before a smirk spread out across her face.

"Well let's just hope that sticking our necks into danger doesn't become a habit in this relationship," muttered Riko before Tate playfully punched the street fighter in the shoulder.

Riko playfully returned the punch while making sure that she didn't punch the 22 year old duck to hard. Kathryn let out a giggle as she smiled at the two before she turned her head towards the door when she heard it open. Riko and Tate also turned as they saw Canard walking into the hanger with Riko's shoulder bag in his hand. The tan duck threw the pack towards Riko as the street fighter caught it without complaint while she stared at Canard with her hard cold eyes.

"We're nearing the borders of the city, so you three better prepare to drop out of the Aerowing." Canard warned before he turned his back on Riko and the two ducks as he walked out of the room with the door closing behind him.

"Looks like we're going sky diving kids," stated Tate to his companions.

Riko frowned at Tate before she grasped the edge of his top beak between her thumb and forefinger: "Don't call me a kid."

"Sorry" said Tate apologetically as he shrugged his shoulders helplessly at Riko.

Riko gently let go of Tate's bill before she opened the back of her seat and placed her shoulder bag in the secret compartment before pulling out her helmet and goggles.

"It's time to rock and roll you guys!" exclaimed Riko as she placed the seat back down in its original spot before leaping on to her bike.

"We're with ya all the way Riko!" exclaimed Tate as he finished putting on his helmet before jumping onto his hover cycle.

Kathryn was the last one to hop onto her hover cycle with her helmet firmly attached to her head before pumping her fist up in the air.

"Let's rock ducks!" shouted Kathryn at the top of her lungs.

Riko and her two traveling companions started their bikes as the hover cycles lifted up off the ground before the back hatch of the Aerowing opened in front of them. The trio gunned their bikes as they shot out of the hanger and into the air before gravity took over. The hover cycles and their riders began to fall towards the ground with a rock ramp jutting out towards them.

Riko was the first one to land on the ramp as she rode down it with Tate and Kathryn following right behind her. The trio stopped their bikes as Riko stared up at the Aerowing that flew across the sky towards the ruin city that had once been proud and full of life.

"Do you think that guy will be okay?" asked Tate as he watched the Aerowing disappear from his sight.

"I hope so," voiced Kathryn as she looked at Tate. "Even though I don't really like the guy he's still a Puckworldian like you and me."

"He'll be fine," said Riko as she looked over at her two companions. "After all, he is part of the military and a soldier can take on almost anything."

Tate and Kathryn looked at Riko for a moment before they gently nodded their heads in agreement. Riko smile at the two ducks as she gave them some reassurance before she started up her bike again.

"Let's get going," she said. "I promised Duke that I get you guys back home in one piece and I don't want to face off against any more drones today."

"Ditto that," replied Tate in agreement as he and Kathryn started up their bikes.

The two ducks followed after Riko as the street fighter led them back to the hideout where Duke was waiting for them.

To be continued


	3. Chapter 3

Silver haired street fighter of war

I do not own The Mighty Ducks or any of the other characters within this story, only the characters that I come up within my mind.

A young teenage/adult girl, who has been abandoned by her mother and ran away from a terrible orphanage, struggles to survive within the streets of New York City but that soon changes when she is suddenly transported to a different world. She now fights to survive a war that is taking place on a planet that isn't inhabited by humans, but by ducks. Can she survive?

The beginning and the first face off: Part 3

All was quiet out on the desert as two drones scouted for any free wondering bystanders that might have evaded from being captured during the invasion. They were walking near the outer borders of the city's cliffs as the two of them scanned for any wondering life forms. They soon came to a rock wall that did not look like the other rock formations that sat around the area. But the hunter drones never got the chance to scan the rock face to see what it was for they were instantly sliced in two by a golden blade of a sword. The one who had attacked them from behind was none other than Riko as she glared down at the robots that had been active a few seconds ago.

Riko quickly turned her head towards a few rock formations that stood behind her as Tate and Kathryn drove out from behind their hiding place on their hover cycles with Riko's hover cycle, Wind Chaser, in toll.

"You know what to do Kathryn," said Riko as the female duck nodded her head in understanding.

Kathryn quickly pressed the same button on her hover cycle to open the secret door that will lead the three travelers back into the hideout where Duke was waiting for them. Riko placed her deactivated saber back into her shoulder bag that hung over her shoulder before she mounted her hover cycle and led her team through the open entrance. The secret door of the entrance quickly closed behind the trio as Riko, Tate and Kathryn rode through the tunnel in silence until they came to the familiar work shop that they had left from after starting out on their adventure. The door to the work shop closed behind the trio when they were all in Kathryn's workshop.

Tate was the first one to break the silence after he dismounted from his bike before taking off his helmet and goggles: "Whoa…That was a close shave for us if I do say so myself."

"You said it," spoke Kathryn in agreement as she and Riko dismounted from their bikes before they took off their goggles and helmets. "I almost had a heart attack when we saw those robots standing in front of the secret entrance that lead to the Brotherhood of the Blades secret hideout."

"But those tin-heads never had a chance against Riko and her quick moving reflexes," stated Tate as he praised the silver haired street fighter for her actions. "I don't think that I've ever seen anyone move that fast in my whole life if I hadn't witnessed it myself."

Riko threw a strand of hair away from her face as a light blush graced her cheeks: "It was nothing that I couldn't handle."

Just then, the door to the workshop opened and there standing in the entranced was Duke with a relieved look on his face when he saw Kathryn, Tate and Riko standing before him.

"Thank Drake," sighed the thief as he walked towards the trio.

Kathryn placed her helmet and goggles down on the seat of her hover cycle before she ran towards her brother in excitement. Duke caught his sister in a hug as Kathryn threw her arms around his neck before he lowered her to the ground.

"We're home," said Kathryn as she looked up into Duke's face.

"That I can see," Duke chuckled with a smile on his face as Tate walked up to him and his sister. "And I'm so glad to see that you two are back in one piece."

Riko stood off to the side as she watched the scene in front of her while a pain of jealously stabbed the street fighter in the heart. Kathryn and Tate were lucky to have someone to worry about them all the time while she was always alone when she was little. She was suddenly brought out of her thoughts when someone suddenly placed their hand on top of her left shoulder. Riko looked up and saw Duke standing in front of her with a smile on his face.

"And I'm also glad that you're safe too Riko," said Duke.

Riko blinked in surprise before a small smile appeared on her face: "Thanks Duke, I'm glad that I was able to keep my promise to you and bring your sister back in one piece along with your student."

Duke chuckled before he didn't something that Riko wasn't expecting. The older duck suddenly started to ruffle the young street fighter's hair as if she were his second little sister. Riko had been taken off guard for a moment before she quickly composed herself again after Duke lifted his hand off of her head.

"Ahem…" coughed Riko before she became serious again, "On to business, Kathryn, Tate and I had found the tomb of Drake DuCaine but we had hit a little snag along the way."

"A snag?" echoed Duke as he raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Yeah, we've just met up with this military agent from the Puckworld Special Forces," stepped in Tate as he answered Duke's question. "He was looking for the mask too."

"His name was Canard Thunderbeak," added Riko as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I had to work with him so that I could get the mask and make it out of the tomb alive, but we also had a run in with the Saurian air forces."

"Are you guy's okay?" asked Duke in worry.

"Don't worry bro, none of us got hurt," reassured Kathryn with a smile.

"Yeah, but we had to leave the mask in the hands of that Hot-shot, Canard," grumbled Riko in a low voice before she started to dig through her shoulder bag. "At least we've got something else out of…the deal."

"Riko, what's wrong?" asked Kathryn when she saw the shocked look on Riko's face.

"Uh…did you or Tate by any chance decide to steal the mask from Canard?" asked Riko as she turned to look at Kathryn and Tate.

"No," replied Tate with a shake of his head, "Why?"

Riko's only answer to Tate's questioned was pulling out the item that she found in her shoulder bag. Kathryn and Tate gasped when they saw the mask of Drake DuCaine in the hands of the street fighter.

"No way," breathed Tate while his eyes widened in surprise and shock as he stared down at the mask in astonishment. "How did the mask of Drake DuCaine get into your bag?"

"I don't know," said Riko with a frown on her face. "I could have sworn that I saw Canard slip the mask into his shoulder bag while we were on the Aerowing …unless."

"You don't think that Canard slipped the mask into your bag on purpose, do you?" asked Kathryn as she looked up at Riko in surprise.

"Maybe," replied Riko as she rubbed her chin in thought after she had placed the mask of Drake DuCaine back into her shoulder bag. "And if he did then I have a feeling that we'll be meeting that Hot-Shot again."

"Well hopefully not too soon," stepped in Tate with a frown before a yawn erupted from his beak.

"Looks like somebody is tired," stated Duke with a smirk.

"Well who wouldn't be tired after what we had to go through today," said Kathryn before she let out a yawn of her own.

"And it is getting late," added Riko as she placed her hands on her hips.

"You got that right kid," Duke agreed with a nod of his head before he wrapped an arm around his little sister's shoulders. "Come on Kathryn, let's get you to bed."

"Okay," muttered Kathryn as she let her brother lead her out of the work shop.

Riko and Tate were the only ones left within the workshop as they watched the two siblings leave before the 22 year old turned to look at the sliver haired human: "So…what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know," replied Riko with a shrug of her shoulders. "But I'll probably start my search in finding the chosen leader tomorrow and maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll find Joseph."

"That's going to be hard," said Tate as he crossed his arms over his chest. "There are a lot of Hunter Drones out there and looking for Master Joseph will not be easy."

"Well I'm not giving up," stated Riko as she raised her right fist up in determination. "I'm going to find Joseph and rescue him, no matter what it takes."

"Then you're going to need help," said Tate as he looked into the street fighter's eyes. "You don't know your way around this ruin city, so you're going to need someone who knows how to navigate you around this old city."

"I don't know," muttered Riko in hesitation as she lowered her fist down to her side. "You and Kathryn have already been put into enough danger as it is and I don't want to lead Duke's student into another life threatening situation again."

"Come on Riko, I can help," pleaded Tate as his eyes became determined.

"Might as well take him with you Riko," spoke Duke as he came walking back into the workshop. "And I better come along as well, just so you can have an extra someone to watch your back when you're fighting Dragaunus's robots."

Riko looked at the two ducks for a moment before she finally let out a sigh of defeat: "Fine, you two can come, even Kathryn if she also decides to come along for the ride.Just make sure that you ducks don't slow me down, okay?"

"Sweetheart, you should know as to never judge a book by its cover," stated Duke with a smirk as he rephrased Riko's words back at her.

Riko looked at Duke for a moment before a smirk appeared on her face. She held a hand out towards the older duck with the grey mallard taking it into his own as they shake on it.

"Now, seeing that you don't have a place to stay for tonight you can share my sister's room for a while," said Duke as he let go of the street fighter's hand before leading her out of the room with Tate following right behind them.

"Uh…thanks," Riko started as she rubbed her left arm nervously. "But I don't want to intrude or anything."

"Don't worry," reassured Duke. "I'm sure that my sister wouldn't mind having you share her bedroom for a while."

Kathryn's bedroom

When the street fighter first came into Kathryn's room she had to admit that the female duck's room wasn't all that impressive to look at.

The young duckling's room was like everything else within the hideout. The walls were cracked and sitting on the hard stone floor were two mattresses that were moldy with age. Overhead was one light bulb that hung on to a thin wire that looked like it would break at any time.

Riko was sitting on one of the mattresses as Kathryn entered the room with a few blankets' in her arms. Kathryn didn't seem to mind in having Riko stay within her room for a while.

"Sorry for the lack of luxury," Kathryn apologized as she handed Riko a blanket. "But I'm afraid that it's all we have here within this rundown old hideout."

"I've slept in dumps that were much worse than this place," reassured Riko as she began to spread out her blanket on the mattress that she will be sleeping on tonight.

Kathryn smiled as she spread out her own blanket on her mattress before crawling underneath the covers.

Kathryn looked over at Riko as she sat down on her mattress: "So…you're going out tomorrow to look for Master Joseph?"

"Yeah," replied Riko with a nod of her head. "And coming along with me on this little expedition are your brother Duke and Tate."

"Then I'm coming along too," stated Kathryn in determination.

"I thought you might say that," muttered Riko as she lay down on her mattress with her blanket coming halfway up to her shoulders. "We're going to start the search early tomorrow morning, so I suggest that we'd get some sleep."

Kathryn nodded before she settled down on her mattress and closed her eyes. In a moment the 16 year old was a sleep. Riko watched the young duckling for a moment before lying down onto her back as she stared up at the ceiling above her. Her first day on this new planet had been an interesting one so far for the young street fighter.

'But why was I brought here in the first place?' thought Riko as a distant look came over her face.

Many questions began to spin around within the 18 year old girl's head before she began to feel tired and the street fighter soon let sleep come over her.

Dream world

_Riko was standing in a dark hallway with many prison cells standing on both sides of her with every type of civilian duck sitting on the ground unmoving. The only proof of them being alive is the rising and falling of their breathing. All of the ducks were wearing torn up clothes that looked as if they had seen better days. Over the doors of the prison cells sat numbers that ranged from one to a thousand. Riko began to walk down the hall as she looked through all of the jail cells before coming to one that held the very duck that she had been thinking of for the last few hours. _

_Joseph was lying on the floor with scars harboring his arms legs and face. A larger scar ran down the 40 year old duck's right eye and Riko can only guess that it had been made by a whip. Joseph looked a lot older than when Riko first met him after she first arrived on Puckworld. His body was a lot thinner and his bone structure began to show through his feathers._

_Riko felt her heart leap into her throat as she stared down at the old duck in front of her before she slowly walked up to the cell's bars: "Oh man…Joseph, what did those Saurian slime balls do to you?"_

_Riko quickly raised her head up towards the number of Joseph's cell and saw the number 31 on it. The street fighter turned her eyes back on Joseph again as a look of determination came over her face._

_"Don't worry," Riko whispered as she clenched her right hand into a fist. "I'll find a way to get you out of here once I find out where you are."_

_Riko turned away from the cell and that was when her vision suddenly changed from the prison cells to the air vent ducts. She watched them swerve and bend around corners so fast that she didn't know which way was left of right. Her vision shifted again as she saw a large building that was half submerged into the ground with the entrance of the air vent being located at the top of the building. The street fighter's vision soon flashed again and for a moment she saw a white feathered male duck turning towards her in shock as his ice blue eyes locked onto her golden orbs. That was when a jolt past through Riko's body as the street fighter quickly woke up._

Real world

Riko quickly sat up on her mattress as she gasped for breath while she felt her heart beating hard against the insides of her ribcage. Riko's eyes were wide in shock after what she had just seen within her dream, but she finally calmed down as her breathing returned to normal.

"Whoa, now that was epic," voiced Riko as she ran her left hand through her hair.

Riko heard a moan as Kathryn began to awaken from her sleep. The young duckling opened her tired eyes as she looked up at Riko in confusion.

"Riko," muttered Kathryn as she slowly sat up on her mattress while rubbing her left eye sleepily. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing Kathryn," said Riko as she looked over at the young 16 year old sleeping beside her. "I just had a strange dream that's all."

"If you say so," yawned Kathryn before she settled back down on her mattress again.

Riko watched the young duckling for a moment before lying back down herself: "Man, what a weird dream."

The silver haired street fighter closed her eyes again as she tried to get back to sleep, but the dream that she had still lingered within her mind along with the white male avian with the blue eyes.

Next morning: In the secret tunnels 

Riko, Duke, Kathryn and Tate were walking down one of the underground tunnels with Duke leading the team. The group was on its way to the Saurian prison camp where Duke had guessed that Joseph might have been sent to when the drones had captured him. It was a long shot for the team, but they knew that they had to save Joseph no matter what.

Riko had been given a belt that held the hilt of her saber so that she can draw it out whenever she needed it and attached to the right side of her belt was a hip pouch that held the mask of Drake DuCaine along with the journal inside it. Riko had brought them along with her because she didn't want to leave the mask and journal at the hideout with a bunch of thieves roaming around and stealing anything that they could get their hands on.

Kathryn and Tate had also brought along their own pouches that held their gear inside of them. Kathryn's pouch held a wireless laptop and communication devices while Tate's pouch held a night scope/inferred binocular and some food supplies. As the grouped walked along the halls of the secret passageway Riko mind kept wondering to the dream that she had the other night.

'_Man that was one crazy dream that I had last night,_' thought Riko as she walked behind Duke. '_And just who was that white mallard that I saw at the end of my dream?_'

"Riko?" a voice spoke from behind the street fighter as it brought the silver haired human back into reality.

"Huh, what?" said Riko as she looked behind her see the worried face of Kathryn looking at her.

"Are you alright?" asked Kathryn to the street fighter in front of her.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," replied Riko at she looked at the female duck behind her. "I'm just thinking about something that's all."

"Well you better snap out of it kid," spoke Duke as he turned to look over his shoulder at the street fighter that was walking behind him. "We need you to stay focus on this little mission of ours."

"I am focus," growled Riko irritably as she glared at the older duck in front of her. "I just have a lot on my mind, but I know when to be focus in the most serious situations like the one that we're going into right now."

"Somebody's grumpy," stated Tate with a chuckle. "What's the matter, got up on the wrong side of the nest this morning?"

"I just didn't have a good sleep last night, okay!" exclaimed Riko as she looked over her shoulder to glare at the black duck that was walking behind Kathryn. "So just drop it!"

"Easy there Tiger," soothed Duke as he turned his head to face forward again. "Save your anger in fighting the Hunter Drones and those Saurian slime-balls."

"Don't worry, I will," said Riko as she made her point across by punching her right fist into the palm of her left hand. "For I'm feeling really edgy in punching the daylights out of one of those bolt-for-brains once we'd get up to the surface."

"Riko can really be scary when she's grumpy like this," whispered Tate to Kathryn so that Riko wouldn't hear him. "And I've only met her just yesterday."

"I know," voiced Kathryn with a giggle. "And I hate to see the guy who tries to mess with her when she's on a bad day."

Unknown to the two ducks Riko had overheard the conversation and couldn't help but smirk at what they had just said. It was true that she had many bad days back on the streets of New York City and the first unlucky guy who decided to cross paths with her found out the hard way on not to mess with a girl who has a bad temper.

"How much farther is it to the place where those Saurian sleaze-buckets are holding Master Joseph?" Riko asked Duke.

"Not too far," answered Duke as he turned to look at Riko again.

"Yeah, it's just a minute walk from the hideout to the building that holds all of the captured ducks that the drones managed to get their grubby metal hands on." Tate said as he clenched his hands into fists.

"Yeah, but let's not forget the rumors that are going around." Kathryn stepped in. "There's been talk that a group called the resistance is wondering around the ruin city while trying to take down Dragaunus's forces."

"But how can we be sure?" questioned Tate as he looked at the young 16 year old in front of him. "I mean, so far we haven't seen a single duck whose part of the resistance that we keep hearing about."

"Joseph said that there wasn't any resistance, and he didn't believe that they existed" said Riko as she entered the conversation. "But you guys also didn't believe that mask of Drake DuCaine existed either, right?"

"Well…there were arguments among us ducks in the past," responded Tate as he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "I was one of the few who believed that the legend of Drake DuCaine and his mask were real."

"And I was one of the few that didn't believe in the legend of Drake DuCaine." Kathryn admitted as she looked down at the ground that she was walking upon in shame. "Now I really wish that I've listened to Master Joseph's stories more closely instead of fiddling with mechanical electronics all the time."

"Well that sometimes happens to people on my home planet," reassured Riko as she looked over her shoulder to talk to Kathryn again. "Sometimes they have their minds set on other things and they don't pay attention to anything else around them, but that's all in the past now Kathryn. So let's focus on the here and the now, okay?"

Kathryn looked up at Riko as a small smile appeared on her beak. Riko only nodded her head at the 16 year old before facing forward again. The group soon came to a staircase that led up towards the surface. Duke was the first one to go up first as he pushed the trapdoor up a little. The thief took a quick look around before he lifted the trapdoor all the way up and climb out. He did a quick search for any dangers that might be lurking around the place he came into. Riko and the two ducks waited for a few minutes for Duke to give them the all clear. Duke quickly walked back towards the secret entrance as he peaked in to face the street fighter, his sister and his student.

"Okay, it's clear," whispered Duke to the three within the passageway.

Riko nodded her head at Duck before she came up first. The street fighter saw that the secret passage had led the group into an old abandoned building that was almost similar to the one that she and Duke had hidden in when she first met the thief. Kathryn was the next one to step out of the passage with Tate following right behind her. Riko slowly crept towards the door of the building before pressing herself up against the wall. She slowly poked her head out from around the corner to see if there were any Hunter Drones walking about and saw two walking past the building that she and the three ducks were hiding in.

"Looks like getting into the building of the holding cells won't be an easy cake walk as I thought it would be," muttered Riko as she looked over at Duke, Kathryn and Tate with a frown.

"Well those Saurian slime-balls aren't taking any chances," voiced Tate as he went over to one of the side windows and glared out at something that caught his eyes. "They want to have every single duck at their disposal so that they can force them to mine for the very component that can power their ships."

"And what kind of component is that?" asked Riko as she walked away from the door and came to stand beside Duke and Kathryn.

"Bulerium power crystals," replied Kathryn as she answered Riko's question. "They're known to be the most powerful source of energy for the Saurian warships. The crystals are also very rare and hard to find on any planet that might have them."

"Then that could cause a really big problem for us," Riko muttered as she rubbed the underside of her chin in thought. "With all those warships, those lizards have the advantage when it comes to an air strike attack."

"Not to mention that they have those Hunter Drones and Saurian Titans stomping around the city on the lookout for any free wondering duck that might have escaped the invasion." Duke added as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Riko nodded her head in agreement before she walked over to the window that Tate was crouching in front of. Riko pressed close to the wall again before looking out the window and saw the building she had seen in her dream last night.

"Is that the place where those over grown lizards are holding Joseph?" asked Riko to the black duck that was crouched on the floor.

"It sure is," replied Tate with a nod of his head. "And it's also one of the hardest places to get in or out of, because of its high-tech security system."

"Yeah and those who have tried to sneak into that place are never seen again," added Kathryn in a quiet voice.

Riko thought over the information that Tate and Kathryn had given her. Finding a way into that building wasn't going to be easy, but then she thought of the air vents that she had seen in her dream last night. Riko quickly turned to Duke.

"Duke, is there any way into the building that can let us slip past the lizard's security system?"

The thief thought about Riko's question for a moment before he answered the 18 year old human girl.

"There are the air vents that are dotted around the building, but most of them are near ground level and they are pretty well guarded with Hunter Drones who are patrolling around the building all the time." Duke replied as he crossed his arms in thought.

"What about the roof of the building? Do they have a security system stationed there as well?"

"I don't think so," replied Duke with a shake of his head, "Because no one has even gotten that close to the building to find out if they do or not."

"Then how about we use your thieving skills to good use," said Riko as a plan began to form within her head. "After all, you are the notorious jewel thief of Puckworld right? So sneaking in and out of a well secured building shouldn't be a problem for you."

The thief scratched his bottom beak in thought for a moment before he looked back at the human that stood in front of him.

"Kid…I like the way you think," praised Duke with a smirk on his face.

Riko smirked back at the thief before turning to look at Tate again: "Tate, what's the layout of the situation."

Tate looked at Riko for a moment before digging into his pouch and bringing out his binoculars. He quickly turned to look out at the building again through his trusty scopes.

"Okay, the drones are moving in a clockwise patter every six hours around the building so that estimates that it will take them a few hours to appear on the other side of the building again."

"What about the security cameras?" Riko pressed on.

"There are 2 security cameras on each side of the building," Tate stated before he turned to look at Riko. "So it won't be easy in getting into that building without those drones knowing that we're here."

"Not unless we create a disturbance," said Riko before she turned to Kathryn. "Kat, can you create the same electrical pulse like you did back on the Aerowing?"

"I can try," replied Kathryn as she pulled out her laptop before she sat down on the ground while placing her computer on top of her lap. "But it won't be easy because I have to do it at a faraway distance and it would be totally impossible for me to make an electrical pulse when getting too close to that building with the risk of being detected."

"That's why only two of us are going to be sneaking into that building," stated Riko. "We can't risk all four of us going into that building together."

"So what you're suggesting is that two of us should stay behind to monitor the situation while two of us sneak into that building, right?" stated Tate as he looked at Riko while he tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

"That's right," answered Riko with a nod of his head. "And the two that are sneaking into the building is Duke and I while you two stay here."

"What?" exclaimed Tate in disbelief as he started at Riko in shock, "You can't be serious?"

"No way," stepped in Kathryn with a defiant look on her face, "We want to come too and help you find Master Joseph."

"No," said Riko she told the two ducks firmly. "You two have to stay here and make sure that the drones don't spot us and we don't need four people going in at the same time. Besides…it was my fault that I got Joseph into this mess so I'm the one who needs to get him out of there."

"Riko," Duke started as he looked at the human in front of him. "It wasn't your fault, I told you; Master Joseph had willing given himself up to those Hunter Drones so that you could have a chance in escaping to find the mask of Drake DuCaine for him."

"And now I'm repaying the debt," stated Riko before she moved away from the window and turned to look at the Duke's student and little sister. "I'm counting on you two to watch our backs, got it?"

Tate and Kathryn nodded their heads in understanding before Kathryn quickly dug into her pouch and pulled out the same communication devices that Riko had used on her adventure in her search for Drake DuCaine's mask. Riko and Duke quickly placed the communicators in their ears before they started out the door.

Riko stopped near the entrance of the door before turning to look at Tate and Kathryn once again: "We'll be back as soon as we can with Joseph."

"Good luck," said Kathryn quietly.

"And be careful," added Tate with caution.

Riko nodded her head at the two ducks before she disappeared out the door and met up with Duke, who was waiting for her near the corner of an old broken down building. The two soon started their trek towards the prison building while making sure that they kept to the shadows so that the Hunter Drones wouldn't catch them sneaking around. Duke and Riko had a few close calls when the Hunter Drones nearly stumbled upon them while they snuck towards the building, but in the end the two made it to their destination.

The street fighter and jewel thief were now sanding near the base of the building as they hid behind a large bolder as they watched two drones walking past their hiding place. Once the robots had disappeared around the corner of the building Riko quickly raised her hand up to her left ear to activate her communication device.

"Okay, we're near the west wall of the building," Riko told Kathryn.

"_**Then get ready to move at 3…2…1, now!**_"

Riko and Duke quickly ran towards the wall as they saw the security cameras freeze in place with their lens facing away from them. Duke quickly brought his left arm up as he fired a grappling hook up towards the roof where it firmly attached itself to the ledge.

"Next stop, top floor," Duke announced as he grabbed Riko around the waist before he reeled the both of them up towards the roof.

The journey up didn't take to long for the two to reach the top as Riko and Duke grabbed onto the edge of the roof. Riko was the first one to quickly pull her-self up before she helped Duke onto the flat part of the roof.

"Not bad One-eye," said Riko with a smirk. "We'd certainly made quick time in getting up here."

"Yeah, but let's hope that there aren't any security cameras up 'ere," voiced Duke in warning.

Riko nodded as Duke quickly reeled in his grappling hook again. The two of them quickly ran across the roof before spotting a security camera that was sitting near the ventilation shaft that Riko and Duke needed to get into the building. Like the first two security cameras it was sitting as still as stone with its lens facing away from them.

"That could be a nuisance," Duke pointed out with a frown.

"Not unless we rewire the thing," Riko suggested with a smirk. "How good are you in vandalizing cameras and making them repeated the same image over and over again?"

Duke smirked as he pulled out a few tools from one of his belt pouch before walking over to the frozen camera: "Do you really have to ask?"

Riko only smirked as she watched the thief crouch down beside the security camera before he began to cross wire the machine. He soon stood back up again while placing his tools back into his belt pouch.

"There, that should do it," said Duke as he dusted the invisible dirt off of his hands.

"Alright, let's get going," said Riko as she walked towards the ventilation shaft before she detached her sword from her belt.

Riko quickly activated it as she began to cut along the outsides of the ventilation shaft before pulling off the lid. Riko quickly deactivated her saber before placing it back onto her belt. She and Duke looked down the ventilation shaft for a moment before climbing inside it with Duke going in first and Riko coming in after him. The ventilation shaft was wide enough for the two of them to crawl side by side together as they made their way towards the holding cells. The duo slowly made their way through the ventilation shaft before they came to a fork in the road.

"Oh, great," muttered Duke with a frown. "Now which way do we go?"

Riko frown as she thought over the question that Duke had asked to nobody in particular before the street fighter got the surprise of her life. Her vision suddenly flashed for a moment as she saw a ball of light flying in front of her. The ball of light quickly turned into a streak as it shot towards the left ventilation shaft before Riko's vision quickly returned to normal as the street fighter shook her head to clear it.

"Hey, you okay kid?" asked Duke when he noticed the silver haired human spacing out beside him.

"Y-yeah I'm fine," replied Riko as she held the side of her head for a moment before looking at Duke. "Listen, I think we should take the ventilation shaft on our left."

Duke blinked at Riko in bemusement before turning his head to the left: "You sure kid?"

"Yeah," replied Riko with a nod of her head. "Now come on, we can't waste any more time."

Riko soon pulled up in front of Duke as she started taking the lead with the older duck following behind her. The duck watched the human in front of him as he began to grow suspicious of Riko's actions while she led them through the ventilation shaft. Duke soon broke the silence that had come over both of them as they quietly crawled their way towards the prison cells.

"How exactly do you know where we're going kid?" questioned Duke in a rough voice.

Riko stopped for a moment with Duke coming up alongside her as he waited for an answer from the human. Riko was looking down at the metal floor of the ventilation shaft for a second before she let out a sigh.

"Last night I had a dream about this place," answered Riko truthfully without looking up at the duck beside her. "I was standing in the prison cells where the civilians were being held. I walked along the corridors for a while until I came to Joseph's holding cell. I looked inside his cell and saw him lying on the floor with many cuts on his body along with a few bruises as well. Joseph wasn't looking to good Duke. His body is only skin and bones now. I don't think that he's going to last much longer within this place."

Duke stared at Riko in disbelief after he had heard what she said, but he somehow knew that the street fighter was telling the truth otherwise she would be this serious in front of him. The 26 year old duck let out a sigh before he placed a hand on the human's shoulder.

"So where is his cell kid?" asked Duke to the street fighter beside him.

Riko raised her golden eyes up to look at Duke for a moment before she turned her head forward again: "Joseph's cell should be up ahead of us and his cell number is 31, but we have to be careful when we enter the holding chambers for there might be guards patrolling the corridors once we get there."

Duke nodded his head as he lowered his hand from the human's shoulder as he let the silver haired street fighter take the lead again with him following behind her. Duke had trusted Riko with his little sister and now it was time for him to trust this human as she led them through the ventilation shaft. They continued on for a while until they came to an air vent grill that sat below them as the two crawled over to it before stopping near the edge of it. They looked down through the holes of the grill and duo saw two Hunter Drones pass underneath them as they walked down the hall with the sound of their metal footsteps bouncing off the walls. Duke and Riko began to hear the drones talk as they walked through the corridors of the prison cell.

"What are the orders for prisoner number 31?" asked the first drone.

"We are to dispose of him once his life force gives out," answered the second drone.

Riko clenched her jaw in anger as she held back a growl that threatened to emerge from her throat. Duke clenched his hands into fists as worry came over his face. Were they already too late to save Master Joseph?

"When do you think that we should dispose the worthless life form?" asked the first drone again.

"In a few weeks," replied the second drone. "The life form still breaths, so we will have to wait until he breaths in his last breath."

Riko and Duke looked at each other in relief when they heard that Joseph was still alive, but barely. The two quietly waited for the drones to leave the hall before they brought their plan into action. Duke quickly detached his saber from his shoulder as he activated it to cut around the sides of the grill vent. Riko quickly grabbed onto it before it fell through and placed it over to the side. Duke deactivated his saber before he reattached to his shoulder again. Duke stuck his head out of the vent to see if the coast was clear and saw no sign of the two drones. The thief quickly flipped out of the air vent before landing on the ground within the hall of the prison cells. Riko quickly followed as she landed silently on the floor without making a sound.

"Okay, now where's Joseph's cell?" asked Duke as he looked down the corridor with the prison cells holding all of the civilians of Puckworld behind their thick bars.

Riko began to walk down the corridor as she looked up at the numbers that sat above the prison cells: "It should be right around…here!"

Riko quickly came to the prison that held Joseph with Duke running up beside her. The two looked between the bars of the cell and saw the still figure of the 40 year old duck lying on the ground.

"Oh man," voiced Duke when he saw the injured form of his use to be master in front of him.

Riko tore her eyes away from the figure as her right hand clenched into a fist. It was even worse to see the injured Joseph in real life than it was within her dreams. Duke quickly got to work at picking the lock. It didn't take too long for the thief to finally open the door to the cell as Riko slowly moved the door of the prison aside before the two of them ran into the room. Duke was the first one to Joseph's side as the thief gently lifted the 40 year old duck's head up off the ground with Riko kneeling down on the left side of Joseph.

"Master Joseph!" hissed Duke as he gently shook the older duck. "Master Joseph, wake up, please!"

Joseph let out a groan before he slowly opened his eyes and saw two familiar faces staring down at him in worry.

The older duck opened his beak to speak to Riko and Duke. His voice was dry and the two could barely hear what he had to said, but they were relieved to see that the old duck was still alive.

"Duke…I thought that I would never see you again, my student."

"Me neither Master Joseph," said Duke as a smile spread out on his beak. "I also have someone else here with me as you can see."

Joseph turned his eyes on Riko as he slowly raised his left hand up towards the silver haired human. The 18 year old took the duck's hand into her own as her golden orbs stared into the older duck's tired eyes.

"I see that you are still well…young Riko," voiced Joseph with a tired smile.

"Yes," replied Riko with a nod of her head. "I'm sorry for getting you into this mess, this is my fault…I should have been the one to get captured not you."

"Don't blame yourself young one," said Joseph in reassurance. "I chose to be captured, remember?"

"But still…" Riko started before she bowed her head in shame.

Riko had only felt anger and hurt throughout her life when she was a little girl and now she was experiencing new emotions that she was not use to yet. It frustrated her to the point where she felt like her life didn't make sense to her anymore and she didn't know what to do in a situation like this as she looked down at the duck that was lying before her. Riko quickly cast her feelings aside as she dug into her hip pouch with her free hand and pulled out the mask of Drake DuCaine.

"I got the mask just like you've asked me to Joseph," said Riko as she held the mask out before the 40 year old duck.

Joseph's eyes widened in wonder and amazement as he saw the mask of Drake DuCaine before a weak smile appeared on his beak: "Thank the stars that you found it young one."

"It wasn't just me who found it," voice Riko as she placed the mask back into her hip pouch. "I had a little help from a student of yours; you'd probably know him as Canard Thunderbeak."

"Canard," echoed Joseph in surprise as his eyes widened a little in surprise. "You mean he's still free from the Saurian Overlord's grasp?"

"Yeah," replied Riko with a nod of her head. "He's still running free along with a few others that mighty be part of the military and I have to say that he's a bit of a Hot-shot."

Joseph began to laugh at what Riko had said before he started to go into a cough fit.

"Master Joseph?" asked Duke in a worry as he looked down at the older duck in his arms.

"I'm alright Duke," whispered Joseph in reassurance. "I'm still kind of tired after digging all day within the mines and I'm not as young as I once was, you know."

"We gotta get you out of 'ere," stated Duke as he began to gather Joseph up in his arms.

"No, Duke," voiced Joseph as he let go of Riko's hand. "I'm afraid that it is already too late for me."

"What are you talking about?" questioned Riko as she began to fell dread come over her heart. "We can't just leave you here."

"I'm afraid that you have to Riko," said Joseph as he turned to look at the silver haired street fighter again. "For my time is just about up. I just wish that I had time to talk with Tate and Kathryn just to hear their voices again."

"I think that can be arranged," said Duke as he lifted up his left hand up to his ear and pressed the earpiece communicator to activate it. "Tate, Kathryn…you there?"

"_**Yeah, we're here Duke,**_" Tate replied over the communicator. "_**What's taking you guys so long? Is everything alright?**_"

"Well…yes and no," replied Duke as he shared a look with Riko as the silver haired human nodded her head solemnly at him to continue. "We didn't get caught by the drones, but…I'm afraid that we might already be…"

"_**You mean Master Joseph is already…**_" Kathryn started before trailing away from her sentence.

"No, he's still alive," Duke reassured his sister. "But he wants to talk to you guys."

"_**Put him on**_" said Tate.

Duke took the earpiece out of his ear before transferring it to Joseph's ear: "Here, you can talk to Tate and Kathryn by using this communication device."

Duke activated the device for Joseph as the older duck began to hear the voices of the two younger ducks talking to him.

"_**Master Joseph, it's Tate**_" said the 22 year old on the earpiece. "_**I also have Kathryn with me as well.**_"

"Tate…" breathed Joseph as a tired smiled spread out across the older duck's beak. "It's so good to hear your voice again, and by the sound of it you have grown."

"_**Yeah, I have,**_" voiced Tate on the communicator. "_**It's good to hear your voice again too.**_"

"_**Ditto that,**_" Kathryn stepped in as Riko heard her voice breaking on the other end over her own communicator.

Riko quickly turned off her communicator as she let Joseph talk to Tate and Kathryn in private. Riko slowly stood up from the ground as she turned away from the scene in front of her. She walked towards the door of the prison as she kept look out for any of the Hunter Drones that might come walking back down the halls again. Riko clenched her hands into fists as soft growl erupted from her throat. This rescue mission had been all for nothing. They were already too late to save the duck that Riko had first met when she arrived here on Puckworld. Riko felt rage as she thought of the Saurian Overlords and vowed to stop them until her last breath left her body.

"Riko…" the street fighter came out of her thoughts when she heard Joseph calling her name.

Riko quickly turned towards the elder duck before she walked over to him. She knelt down on the ground again as Joseph held his hand out towards her.

"Yes?" asked Riko as she gently took the elder duck's hand into her own again.

"I'm counting on you to find the hero that will save Puckworld from the Saurian Overlords." Joseph told Riko as he stared up into the street fighter's eyes with his tired ones.

"I will," promised Riko as she looked down at the elderly duck in front of her.

Joseph nodded his head before he slipped his hand out of Riko's grasp. He began dig into his left pocket before he pulled out a white one foot rod with two golden rings circling around both ends of it.

"What is that thing?" asked Riko curiously as she looked at the rod that Joseph held within his left hand.

"This is my staff," replied Joseph. "I've had it for a long time and it had aided me when I was about your age. I want you to have it now. The only way to activate it is by gently squeezing it within the palm of your hand and it will grow into a six foot staff. If you want it to return to its normal size then you just squeeze it again and it will shrink down to a one foot rod."

Riko looked at the rod for a moment before she slowly grasped it within her right hand as Joseph's left hand slowly fell to the ground. Riko's heart jumped a beat for she knew that Joseph was nearing his life's end.

"May it protect you within your fight against Dragaunus," voice Joseph as he took the last few breaths of his life. "I'm counting on both of you, along with Tate and Kathryn, to save our world."

Riko and Duke nodded their heads at Joseph as the elder said his last words to them: "Farewell you two…and may you be protected within your fight for freedom."

The street fighter and thief became quiet as they looked down at Joseph. The elder's eyes slowly began to close and in that moment his chest stopped moving. Joseph's spirit had left his body and was now free to join the rest of the spirits that had departed from the world of the living.

Duke gently placed Joseph back down on the ground before taking the earpiece out of the elder's ear. Riko bowed her head as she felt her heart break within her chest before she placed the staff that Joseph had gave her into her hip pouch. The two knelt on the ground for what felt like hours to them before Duke gently touched Riko's right shoulder to gain her attention.

"Come on kid," said Duke in a gentle voice. "We have to get out of 'ere before we get caught by those Hunter Drones."

Riko only nodded her head as she stood up from the ground with Duke following after her. The two of them quickly exited the prison cell before looking back at the dead body of Joseph once again.

"Good bye…Master Joseph, may you rest in peace," whispered Duke as he gently closed the prison door again.

Riko looked away from Joseph's body as she began to feel rage flooding her senses and it took everything she had to control her anger just for the sake of not running off blindly in search for Dragaunus. Duke quickly shot his grappling hook up towards the open entrance of the air vent before he turned to look at Riko. Riko looked over at Duke as her golden eyes became cold with determination before she walked over the thief and wrapped her arms around his neck. Duke wrapped his arm around Riko's waist before he activated the grappling hook to reel them up in to the vent again. They quickly crawled into the vent and placed the grill back into place by welding the metal together.

Outside of the building

Riko and Duke quickly scaled down the side wall of the prison camp building before running towards the hiding place where Kathryn and Tate were waiting for them. When the two of them came through the door they saw Kathryn sitting in the corner of the room. She had her knees tucked up close to her chest as her laptop sat on the floor beside her with the top lid still open on it. Tate was sitting beside her as the 22 year old had a far off look in his eyes. Duke walked towards his student and sister as he knelt in front of them. Tate was the first one to raise his head up to look at Duke before he opened his beak to speak.

"I can't believe that he's gone," muttered the black duck sadly.

Tears began to form within Kathryn's eyes before the 16 year old threw herself onto her brother and began to cry into Duke's shoulders while the thief tried to comfort his younger sister. Riko looked down at the ground in shame as she began to blame herself for what had happened within the prison cell. If only they had gotten to Joseph in time than none of this wouldn't be happening to them. She was suddenly brought out of her thoughts when she sensed someone behind her.

Riko quickly grabbed the hilt of her saber and activated it before turning around to slash at the intruder that was behind her. Her saber clashed against the familiar sword that she had encountered back when she first traveled to Drake DuCaine's tomb in search of the mask. Duke, Kathryn and Tate quickly jumped up from the floor as they turned to see what the commotion was about and were surprise to see Riko facing off against another avian.

"Canard!" exclaimed Riko in surprise as she backed away from the duck before she lowered her blade while standing in a relaxed position. "What the heck are you doing here?"

"Just came to find a few other wondering ducks that might have escaped Dragaunus's grasp," replied Canard as he also lowered his blade before deactivating it and placing the hilt back onto the side of his belt, "But so far…no luck."

Riko raised an eyebrow at Canard as she also deactivated her saber and attached it to its original place on her belt: "Is that so."

"Hey kid," Duke stepped in as he, Tate and Kathryn walked up to Riko's side. "Is this the guy who helped you find the mask?"

"The one and only," replied Riko as she looked up at the thief beside her before she turned to look at Canard. "Duke, I like you to meet Canard Thunderbeak, the duck that I had encountered within Drake DuCaine's tomb."

"Nice ta meet cha," said Duke as he held his hand out towards the tan duck.

"Likewise," replied Canard as he shook hands with the thief before turning to look at Riko again. "Now as for my question, what in Drake DuCaine are you and your companions doing here near the prison camp?"

"We came to rescue Joseph," replied Tate as he answered Canard's question.

"What?" said Canard in surprise as he turned his attention onto Tate, "Where is he, is he alright?"

Riko cast her eyes downwards as she avoided the soldier's gaze: "I'm afraid not, for we were…too late to save him. And it's my fault that he's dead now."

Canard turned his eyes on Riko as he glared down at the sliver haired human and was about to say something, but Duke quickly intervened.

"Let me explain," said the thief as he defended the human. "When Riko and I first got to him, Joseph had these slash and whip marks all over his body and was on his last leg when we got there."

"Please, don't blame Riko," stepped in Kathryn. "She didn't everything that she could."

Canard crossed his arms over his chest in distrust as he glared down at Riko for a moment, but soon let out a sigh and decided to let the matter drop.

"Okay, I'll let Quicksilver off the hook for now," said Canard with a light frown, "And I do need all the help that I can get when it comes to gathering troops to fight within the resistance."

"What'd you say?" said Tate as his eyes widened in surprise.

"You mean…the resistance really exists?" asked Kathryn with a smile as she turned to look at Duke who had the same smile on his face.

"Looks like the rumors were true after all," said Duke to his little sister.

Riko walked off to the side as she let Canard talk to Duke, Kathryn and Tate about the resistance while she still thought about Joseph and the promise that she had made to him. She needed to find Dragaunus and his Master Tower, and she already knew where he was hiding.

'_I just need to get there,_' thought Riko as she leaned up against the wall in thought. '_And the only way to get across the desert is with the hover cycles, but uncovering his base won't be easy because that lizard has his base hidden by his cloak of darkness. So the only way to find the Master Tower is by using the mask, but I can't use it because I'm not a duck._'

Riko let out a growl of frustration as she thought about the problem that she was standing on. How was she supposed to stop Dragaunus if she can't see him?

"Hey, Quicksilver," Riko quickly looked up as she saw Canard standing in front of her.

"What do you want Hot-shot?" muttered Riko in a monotone voice.

"I just want to talk and that's all," replied Canard as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Talk…about what?" questioned Riko as she grew suspicious.

"About you," answered Canard bluntly. "How would you like to join the resistance?"

Riko's eyes widened in surprise as she stared at the duck in front of her, but her surprise soon turned into a frown.

"Why would you want me?" asked Riko with a raised eyebrow. "You don't even know me."

"True," said Canard with a nod of his head. "But I do need strong fighters on the team, and you've already proven that you can fight when we first met each other in Drake DuCaine's tomb. I need somebody like you on my team that can fight and have the guts in facing off against Dragaunus."

"And what about Duke and his student?" voiced Riko as she nodded her head over to where the thief was conversing with Tate and Kathryn.

"They'll also be joining the team as well," replied Canard as he too turned to look at the group behind him.

"What about Kathryn?" Riko pressed on. "You aren't going to leave her behind are you?"

"That thought did cross my mind for a while," Canard admitted as he turned to look at Riko again. "I'm not too fond of having kids within the resistance, but after seeing what she did in uncloaking the Saurian warships, well…I guess she's earned her part in being a member of the team. And I do need an extra mechanic to help Tanya with some of the machinery that might break down within our underground base."

Riko raised a questioning eyebrow at the tan duck but soon shrugged it off. She'll ask who this Tanya person was later. The street fighter pushed herself off against the wall before she dug into her hip pouch and brought out Drake DuCaine's mask.

"Here," said Riko as she handed Canard the mask. "You're the leader of the group right? So a leader needs to have the mask of Drake DuCaine to guide him and his team to victory over the Saurian Overlords."

Canard took the mask from Riko as he looked down at it: "Thanks Riko, but I'm not the only one that should be leader of the team that I'm forming."

"What do you mean by 'Not the only one'?" questioned Riko as she placed her hands on her hips.

"You'll just have to wait and see," answered Canard as he placed the mask into his shoulder bag before he walked back over to Duke and the two younger ducklings.

Riko glared after Canard in suspicion before she walked after the soldier. They soon came up to Duke, Tate and Kathryn as the three ducks turned to face them.

"We've talked, and we've decided to join the resistance," said Duke as he gave Canard the answer on whether they would like to join the resistance or not.

"Then that makes three of you," said Canard as he looked over at Riko. "Silver here has also decided to join the resistance as well."

Riko only shrugged her shoulders before she was suddenly hugged by Kathryn. The street fighter blinked in surprise before she looked down at the 16 year old as the young duckling pulled away from the street fighter with a smile spreading out on her beak.

"What was that for?" questioned Riko in confusion.

"Sorry," Kathryn apologized with a shrug of her shoulders. "I was just glad that you were going to joining us within the resistance."

"Hey, if I want to find Dragaunus and shut him down for good then what have I got to lose in joining the resistance," said Riko as she placed her right hand on her hip. "But before we start this journey, we need supplies."

"I'm feeling a splitting up strategy coming on," whispered Tate to Duke with a smirk.

"That's right," replied Riko when she overheard what Tate had said to Duke. "We'll be splitting up into two groups. Duke, I want you and Kathryn to go back to the hideout and gather up anything that might be valuable to us within our fight against Dragaunus, and that also includes the hover cycles. Make sure you keep in constant contact with me and Tate at all times while we help Canard out in searching for anymore survivors that might still be wondering around the city."

"Alright, but you two just be careful out there okay kid?" warned Duke as he looked at the human in front of him.

"We will," replied Riko before Canard walked up to Duke and Kathryn.

Canard handed Kathryn a small black oval device that he had dug out from his shoulder bag: "Take this; it's a map of the secret underground passageways that will lead you to the secret underground military base. Do you think you can handle it kid?"

"Sure I can," boasted Kathryn with a proud smile. "After all, I am the technician within the Brotherhood of the Blade."

"And sometimes the annoying little duckling that everyone knows and loves," Tate chuckled as he ruffled the young female duck's hair.

Kathryn teasingly stuck her tongue out at Tate while Duke only rolled his eyes up in amusement.

"Kids," muttered the thief with a shrug of his shoulders.

Riko smirked before looking at Canard: "Well, let's get going."

"Right," said Canard before he began to lead Riko and Tate through the ruins of the city.

"See you guys later Master Duke!" exclaimed Tate as he began to follow behind Riko and Canard with the tan mallard leading the way.

With that, the groups went their separate ways, hoping to meet up with each other again as soon as they can. Riko's adventure was starting to become more complicated for her, but one thing was set on her mind. She was going to take down Dragaunus and take revenge on what he had done to Joseph, but what Riko didn't know was that she was going to encounter more than just fighting on Puckworld.

To be continued


	4. Chapter 4

Silver haired street fighter of war

I do not own The Mighty Ducks or any of the other characters within this story, only the characters that I come up within my mind.

A young teenage/adult girl, who has been abandoned by her mother and ran away from a terrible orphanage, struggles to survive within the streets of New York City but that soon changes when she is suddenly transported to a different world. She now fights to survive a war that is taking place on a planet that isn't inhabited by humans, but by ducks. Can she survive?

The beginning and the first face off: Part 4

Canard, Riko and Tate quickly hid behind the corner of a building that was still standing after the invasion as they watched a group of Hunter Drones walk past their hiding place without a second glace over their shoulders. Canard slowly poked his head around the corner to see if the coast was clear while Tate and Riko began to quietly talk with each other.

"Man, I can't believe how many pests there are roaming around Ice City," muttered Tate with a frown on his face.

"You're telling me," whispered Riko as she turned to looked at Tate. "When I first came here to your home planet I was nearly caught by those metal headed bolt-for-brains."

"Yet you somehow managed to slip through their fingers," said Canard as he suddenly entered the conversation with a frown on his beak. "How exactly did you manage that?"

"You could say that a couple of heads rolled," Riko joked with a wink.

Tate let out a chuckle while Canard only rolled his eyes at the human's stupid joke.

"Come on, let's keep moving," said Canard in a commanding tone of voice. "I told one of my men to meet up with us in our search for any civilians that might still be wondering around the city."

"Anything we need to know about this new duck?" asked Tate before he and Riko quickly followed after Canard as the three of them shot out from their hiding place and began to run through the streets of the broken down city.

"Yeah," replied Canard as he ran with Riko running beside him. "She's hot tempered."

"She?" echoed Tate as he ran behind Canard and Riko. "You mean we'll be meeting up with a female duck?"

"Yes we are, and she happens to be part of the military," replied Canard before he glared over his shoulder to look at Tate. "Is that a problem?"

"Um…n-no sir," stuttered Tate as a nervous smile came on his face.

Riko only rolled her eyes at the two drakes before she suddenly heard the sound of fighting coming from up ahead of her. They soon came running around the corner of a broken down building and saw a pack of Hunter Drones circling around a young 20 year old female duck.

The female duck had dark red hair, emerald green eyes and peach/tan feathers. She was wearing a dark purple sleeveless body suite with light purple armor over top, a white shoulder pad sat on her left shoulder with a dark purple coming over top of it, and white boots. On the duck's right hand was a fingerless glove while on her left wrist was circular black wrist com. The duck was a petite size for she only stretched up to Canard's chest and Tate's shoulders while Riko analyzed that she might be a head higher than the female duck.

Riko was amazed at how good this female duck was fairing in fighting against those drones that surrounded her all by her-self. The red head jumped kicked a drone that came near her before she grabbed another drone and fell onto her back while flipping the robot over her. Riko watched as the female duck stood up and dusted the invisible dirt off of her hands while she looked down at the job that she had accomplished with a satisfying smile on her face.

"I hate machines," muttered the red head as she placed her hands on her hips.

Riko whistled in impression at the female duck's fighting skills while Tate only stared at the red head in shock and amazement. Canard stood with a smirk on his face as he looked towards the red head in front of him before he spoke.

"I see that you've started and finished the party without us Mallory," said Canard as he crossed his arms over his chest.

The red head turned her gaze on Canard when she heard him talking to her: "Well it was kind of hard not to when there were about 16 drones trying to attack you."

That was when the red head noticed Riko and Tate standing behind Canard: "And who're you two?"

Riko took a step forward as she began to introduce her-self: "My name is Riko Hikari, number one street fighter of New York City, planet Earth."

"Planet Earth, huh?" said the red head as she raised an eyebrow up in curiosity. "Never heard of such a planet and whose your friend?"

Riko turned her head to look over at Tate and saw that the black duck was staring at the red head in fascination. The street fighter gently nudged the 22 year old duck out of his daze with a frown forming on her face. Tate blinked for a moment before he quickly shook his head and stood ridged like a soldier.

"Um…sorry about that, my name is Tate Jetwing," he said.

The red haired duck only nodded her head at Tate before Canard suddenly stepped in: "Riko, Tate…I want to meet one of the best soldiers within the military and rebellion, Mallory McMallard. She's our top hand to hand combat fighter and weapon's specialist."

The red head, Mallory, stood to attention as she saluted the two like any soldier would when they are introduced to new members within the military. Riko nodded at Mallory while Tate stiffly saluted back at the red head before standing ridged again as he quickly lowered his hand from his head.

"I'm guessing that these are the only two that you have found to recruit for the resistance?" asked Mallory coolly as she placed her right hand on her hip.

"Actually Mallory," replied Canard as he looked at the young red head, "I found two more that are going to be joining our team. They're just picking up a few things that are at their home right now."

"Oh," said Mallory as she looked at Canard curiously. "And who exactly are these other two new recruits?"

"Does the name 'Duke L'Orange' mean anything to you?" asked Riko as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"What!" shouted Mallory in disbelief as she stared at Riko for a moment before she turned on Canard again. "Don't tell me that you've recruited _the_ Duke L'Orange the notorious master jewel thief of Puckworld?"

"Yes, I did," replied Canard in a calm voice as he looked down at Mallory.

"Are you crazy?" hissed Mallory as she glared up at Canard. "Why should we let a thief join our rebellion?"

"Because you need stealth on the team," Riko jumped in as she took a step towards Mallory and saw that she was only a few inches taller than the red head. "Also he, along with Kathryn, is our teammate so if we join the resistance then so does he."

Mallory glared into Riko's golden eyes as her emerald green orbs blazed with fury but the two were instantly pushed apart by Canard.

"That's enough you two," said Canard as he glared at the human female and red head duck. "We don't have time to bicker between each other right now. We need to find the others before we get caught by Dragaunus's Hunter Drones."

Riko felt herself twinge when she suddenly heard Canard's controlling voice talking to both her and Mallory. Riko didn't like anyone taking control over her, but she knew that she had to keep her temper in check otherwise she would be kicked out of the rebellion. The silver haired street fighter let out a sigh as she hung her head submissively. Mallory also let out a sigh before giving one last glare at Riko.

"Whatever you say…captain," said Mallory before she followed Canard as the drake began to move the team out again.

Riko and Tate walked behind the two with the black duck's head hanging down in sadness while a sigh escaped from his beak. Riko noticed this action as she looked at the drake that was walking beside her.

"What's the matter with you?" questioned the sliver haired human with an eyebrow raised up in curiosity.

"Nothing," muttered Tate as he looked at the human who was walking beside him. "It's just that…I've really messed up in impressing the first female duck that I've met and not only that, but she's part of the military. How am I supposed to compete with that when I'm noting but a street punk to her?"

Riko rolled her eyes as a sigh escaped her lips: "Now's not the time to be focusing on girl's Tate and besides falling in love with someone isn't a good thing to be doing when you're in a middle of a war here."

"Uh…right, sorry," said Tate as scratched the back of his head in embarrassment before he lightly rapped the side of his head to remind himself of the situation at hand.

Riko only shook her head at the 22 year old duck before she turned to look ahead again. The group continued to walk around the abandoned city while hiding around corners or in alleyways to avoid being spotted by the Hunter Drones. The journey around the city was quiet for a while before it was broken by a loud explosion that startled the group, except Riko, right out of their minds.

"What on Puckworld was that?" asked Tate as he looked at Canard and Mallory for answers.

"I would guess that another of my team members had just blown up a Saurian Titan," said Canard as he turned to look at Riko and Tate.

Riko frowned for a moment at what Canard had said before she took off from the group at an incredible speed.

"Riko, wait!" shouted Canard before he, Mallory and Tate chased after the human girl.

Riko quickly ran towards the spot where the explosion had occurred and soon came upon the site where she saw a huge robot that was in the form of a giant dinosaur lying dead on the ground. Riko boldly walked towards the robot before she kicked her right foot against it to see if it would move, but the metal giant didn't even twitch when the street fighter kicked it.

"Looks like this metal monster won't be moving any time soon." Riko stated as she placed her left hand on her hip.

"Scratch one oversized toaster oven," spoke a nasal voice from Riko's far right.

Riko turned her head towards the voice and saw another female duck who was sitting in a trash pile with a banana peel sitting on top of her beak. Riko quickly ran over to the female duck before stopping in front of the trash pile. The street fighter held her hand out to the duck in front of her.

"Need some help?" asked Riko as she looked down at the duck before her.

"Y-yeah, thank you," said the female duck as she took Riko's hand.

The street fighter quickly pulled the duck out of the trash pile before she got a good look at the mallard that was standing in front of her now.

The duck had long slightly dark blonde hair that stood up on her head as it was held up by a light blue headband, light blonde feathers and blue eyes that were hidden behind a pair of pink shaded glasses. She was wearing a high collar purple jacket with the sleeves being rolled near the duck's elbows and purple pants that stretched down to the duck's knees. On the female duck's left shoulder was a white shoulder pad while on the duck's right arm was a metal device. On her feet were a pair of white boots and around the duck's waist was a light blue belt. Also on the female duck's left wrist was the same black communicator that Riko had seen on Canard's and Mallory's wrists.

The female duck rearranged her glasses before pulling the banana peel off of her beak as a disgusted look came over her face. Riko let out a light chuckle before speaking to the female duck.

"So I'm guessing that you were the one that took down that over grown toaster bot over there, huh?" asked Riko with a smirk while she jabbed at a thumb over her shoulder as she pointed to the dead robot behind her.

"You could say that," replied the female as she tossed the banana peel behind her. "I'm Tanya Vanderflock; I happened to be the techno wiz within the resistance."

"Then I'm guessing you're part of Canard's group huh?" said Riko as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"She is," replied Canard's voice from behind Riko.

The street fighter turned to look behind her and saw Canard, Mallory and Tate walking up to her and the blonde duck, Tanya. Canard had an angry look on his face as he marched up to Riko before stopping in front of the human girl and glaring down at her while Riko glared right back up at him.

"While you are in the resistance you will do whatever I say, and that means you stick with this group." Canard said in an authorized voice as he jab a finger into Riko's face.

Riko bit back a growl before turning her head away from the drake in anger. Tanya looked between the two before scratching the back of her neck nervously.

"So…uh…I'm guessing that you two aren't really on track with each other, huh?" voiced the blonde duck in question.

"You hit the nail right on the head," grow Riko as she crossed her arms over her chest before she turned her back towards Canard.

"Tanya, I like to introduce you to two new members of our group." Canard began as he looked down at Riko for a moment before he turned to face the duck. "This girl here is Riko Hikari, a human from planet earth and the black duck behind me is Tate Jetwing."

Riko turned to face Tanya again before she held her hand towards the female duck: "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," replied Tanya as she took Riko's hand and shook it.

Tate looked over at the giant saurian robot before he let out a whistle: "Whoa…did you take down this oversized can opener all by yourself?"

"With a little help from the explosive that I invented myself," replied Tanya proudly.

"I hate to break up this friendly chit-chat, but shouldn't we get moving?" stepped in Mallory as she asked in an impatiently voice.

"Alright, alright we're going," replied Riko as she looked over at Mallory with a glare. "Don't start turning into a spitfire."

Mallory only frowned at Riko for a moment before she followed after Canard who began to lead the group through the city again. Riko, Tate and Tanya were walking behind the two military ducks while they began to talk between each other.

"So…Tanya," started Tate as he began to strike up a conversation. "We heard from Canard that you're a techno wiz within the rebellion, right?"

"Yeah," replied Tanya with a nod. "I help out as much as I can within the resistance by making weapons and other nifty gadgets. I'm also a medic within the resistance as well."

"Cool," voiced Tate in amazement.

Riko let out a light chuckle of amusement before she looked down at the metal device that sat on Tanya's arm.

"Tanya, what's that device attached to your arm?" asked Riko out of curiosity.

"This?" said Tanya as she raised her right arm up to show Riko and Tate the device that was attached to it. "This is a device that I've created for myself. It's called an Omnitool."

"What does it do?" asked Tate.

"Well, it can cut through wires, shoot laser beams, turn into a saw, etc." Tanya said as she told Riko and Tate about some of the functions of the Omnitool.

Riko had to admit that this female duck sounded pretty good with technology and she worried about Kathryn being useless on the team. Riko soon asked Tanya a question that suddenly popped up within her head.

"Um…Tanya, have you ever thought of taking up an apprentice to help you out in your work with making weapons and repairing vehicles?"

Tanya looked at Riko in surprise before going into thought for a moment: "Well now that you mentioned it, yeah. Why do you ask?"

"Well…" started Riko as she scratched the back of her neck. "Tate and I have this friend who's also really good at making useful gadgets and vehicles. Her name is Kathryn L'Orange; she's the little sister of Duke L'Orange."

"Duke L'Orange?" echoed Tanya in surprise. "You mean _the_ Duke L'Orange, the famous jewel thief of Puckworld?"

"That's the one," replied Riko with a nod of her head.

Tanya blinked a few times before scratching the back of her head: "Boy, who would have known that Duke had a sister."

Tate snorted as he tried to contain a laugh that almost erupted from his throat while Riko only smiled at Tanya. The street fighter began to like this blonde duck. The walk around the ruin city was a quiet one for a while before Riko started up another conversation with Tanya.

"How long do you think we'll reach your military headquarters?"

"Hopefully soon as long as we don't run into any trouble like the last time at our original base," replied Tanya.

"Original base?" echoed Tate as he cocked an eyebrow up in confusion.

"Oops," voiced Tanya as she suddenly realized what she had just said.

"Tanya, what are you hiding from us?" questioned Riko as she frowned at the blonde beside her.

Tanya turned to look at Riko for a moment before looking ahead to see Canard and Mallory walking a few feet ahead of them. The blonde mechanic let out a sigh before she motioned for Tate and Riko in closer so that she could speak to them more privately. Riko and Tate walked a little closer to Tanya as the female mallard began to talk to them in a low voice.

"We had a base that was originally the watch tower of 'Puckworld's Special Forces'," whispered Tanya to Tate and Riko.

"You mean the tower that belonged to the military?" voiced Tate as he tried to get the facts down.

"That's the one," replied Tanya with a nod. "We were using it as a secret base to hopefully help us fight against the Dragaunus, but that soon changed after a couple of weeks ago."

"What happened?" asked Riko as she urged the mechanic on.

"Well…the ducks within the rebellion where just working and minding their own business when we were suddenly attack by the Saurian warships." Tanya replied as she continued on with her story. "We didn't know what hit us as the Saurians sent their Hunter Drones to attack us. It was like a bad nightmare as the Hunter Drones took down or captured most of the rebellion troops. Only a few of us managed to escape."

"So the Saurian slime-balls attacked you when you least expect it, huh?" Tate clarified as he sadly looked at Tanya in pity.

"Yeah," replied Tanya sadly. "But there was one thing that had bothered me after the base was attacked. The Saurian Overlords couldn't have known where the location of the tower was unless someone told them."

"You mean…someone betrayed the resistance?" voiced Riko as her eyes widened in shock.

Tanya nodded her head as an angry frown came over her face. Riko was about to open her mouth and ask Tanya who had betrayed the resistance when she suddenly sensed something to her far right. She quickly pushed Tate and Tanya to the ground with her.

"Get down!" shouted Riko as a laser suddenly flew over their heads.

Canard and Mallory quickly turned around to see what was going on. Riko quickly grabbed her saber from her belt and activated it before she jumped back up onto her feet again. Tate and Tanya quickly sat up from the ground to see what Riko had saved them from and saw a hoard of Hunter Drones standing before them. They started shooting lasers at Riko, Tanya and Tate while Riko blocked the laser shots with the blade of her saber. Canard quickly brought out a flat white gun with a flat barrel from his hip pouch before he shot at one of the drones that almost fired a laser at Tanya. The bullet that came out of the gun was actually a hockey puck.

"It's an ambush!" shouted Mallory before she went into a hand to hand combat with a drone that came near her.

"No kidding Spitfire!" shouted Riko before she slashed her saber through the first Hunter Drone that came near her.

The group soon found them-selves fighting against 30 or 40 Hunter Drones that encircled them from all sides. Riko was slashing through the drones as if they were made of butter while not missing a beat in slashing another drone that came near her. Tate slashed through a drone that came near him while not noticing a drone coming up behind him before Mallory suddenly appeared and did a jump kick to bring down the Hunter Drone. Tate quickly turned when he heard metal crunching behind him and saw Mallory standing behind him with a Hunter Drone lying on the ground, dead. Electricity was sparking around its body indicating that it was permanently out of commission.

"Uh…thanks," muttered Tate as he looked away from Mallory.

"Just watch your back rookie," said Mallory with a smirk.

Tate only nodded his head before he got back to fighting the Hunter Drones again. Tanya and Canard were faring well as they fired off lasers and hockey pucks at the drones that came within their line of vision. The group took down the saurian robots one by one before they were down to about 20 Hunter Drones.

"Ha! This is too easy!" exclaimed Riko as she sliced through her thirteenth drone.

Suddenly she was tackled to the concrete floor by a Hunter Drone as it knocked her saber out of her hand while it tried to pin the street fighter to the ground.

"Riko!" shouted Tate when he saw that the silver haired human was in trouble before he had to dodge a laser beam from the drone that he was facing by himself.

Riko grunted as she fought against the drone that pinned her to the ground: "Hey, back off buster! Haven't you ever heard of the first rule when going out with a girl? No touching on the first date!"

Riko brought her feet underneath the robot before she shoved it off of her and sent it flying into a nearby wall where it fell apart on impact. The street fighter jumped back up onto her feet while dusting the invisible dirt off of her hands.

"So much for that flimsy tin can," muttered Riko before she was suddenly grabbed from behind by another Hunter Drone.

The drone held Riko in a chocking hold with its claw hands wrapped tightly around the girl's throat as the street fighter struggled to get out of the robots grip before she was lifted right off the ground. The other's weren't able to help Riko for they were too busy with the others drones that surrounded them. The silver haired human kicked around wildly as she tried to get out of the drone's chocker hold, but her struggles soon became weaker as Riko felt her air supply running out. Riko felt herself blacking out for a moment before she suddenly felt the grip of the Hunter Drone disappear from around her neck. Riko landed on the ground before she fell onto her hands and knees. She coughed and panted for breath before she looked up to find that the drone was suddenly thrown away from her by a large duck.

The duck had light grey feathers, black hair that was tied back in a ponytail and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a sleeveless white muscle shirt with black armored shoulder pads and loose dark red pants that were held up by a grey belt. On top of the duck's head was a grey metal helmet while on the duck's lower right arm was a metal vambrace and on his left hand was a black fingerless glove with a knuckle guard on top of it. On the duck's right shoulder was a tattoo of a green upside down triangle with two hockey sticks crisscrossing with each other.

Riko could tell that this guy was big on muscles and knew that she shouldn't mess with a guy like him when he's angry, but she had a feeling that this duck was part of the resistance as well. Canard, Mallory and Tanya seemed happy to see him when they saw the large mallard step into the battle against the Hunter Drones.

"Good timing Grin!" called out Canard before he shot at another drone that came near him.

The giant, now known as Grin, only nodded before he turned to face another drone that came towards him. Riko observed for a moment and blinked in confusion as she watched Grin bow towards the drone like a martial artist bowing in respect for his opponent before the giant drew back his left arm and punched the drone right in the face with his fist. Riko's eyes widened when she saw that the force of the drake's punch had sent the Hunter Drone flying and crashing into a wall before it fell to pieces.

"You've got a pretty powerful punch there big guy," complemented Riko as she walked up to stand beside the giant. "But doesn't punching metal hurt you?"

Grin looked down at the silver haired human while he shook his hand: "Pain is an illusion…an illusion that really, really hurts."

Riko only raised an eyebrow at Grin as a smirk came over her face: '_Why am I not surprised?_'

"Riko!" shouted Tate as he threw the hilt of Riko's saber towards her. "Think fast!"

Riko quickly caught the deactivated hilt of her saber before she reactivated it again: "Thanks Tate!"

The battle continued on as the group battle against the Hunter Drones as they took them down one by one. The fighting soon ended with Riko slashing through the last drone that stood in her way before deactivating her saber.

"Glad that's over with," muttered Riko as she attached the saber to her belt again.

"Riko!" called Tate as he ran up to the silver haired human before stopping in front of her. "You okay girl?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," replied Riko with a nod of her head. "But few seconds more in that drone's chocker hold then I would have blacked out right then and there."

"Or worse," stepped in Mallory as she and Canard came up to her along with Tanya. "You could have winded up dead."

Riko frowned at what Mallory had said but decided not to make a comeback on it for she knew that the red head was right. Canard soon turned to the new duck of the group.

"It's good that you came when we needed you the most, Grin," said Canard in an appreciative tone of voice.

"I've sensed that you and the others were in trouble, so I came here as fast as I could," replied Grin as he looked down at Canard.

"And it's a good thing you did," stepped in Riko as she looked up at the duck. "Otherwise I would have passed out right then and there within that Hunter Drone's chocker hold."

"It is my pleasure to help out a friend within the resistance young friend," said Grin as he looked down at Riko with a gentle smile.

"Tate, Riko; I like you to meet Grin Hardwing, the muscles of our team." Canard spoke as he introduced the giant to the two new recruits.

Grin placed the palms of his hands together as he bowed towards Riko and Tate in respect: "I am enlightened and honored to meet you."

Riko and Tate respectfully bowed back to the giant before the trio straightened up again.

"The honor is all ours," replied Riko.

The group continued forward as Canard took up the lead again with Mallory right beside him. Riko, Tate, Tanya and Grin were following behind them as they began to talk with each other again. Riko soon learned that Grin was actually a gentle giant who only fought when his peace was disturbed and was trained by one of the best hockey players on Puckworld. A duck that was known to be the hockey master on Puckworld who goes by the name of Ty Quack Do. At first Riko was lost on who this Ty Quack Do guy was until Tate and Grin filled her in with the details. Riko was soon amazed when she heard just how great this Ty Quack Do guy was. The group soon came to an old rundown warehouse. They all filed in one by one until Tanya was the last one to close the door behind them. Riko looked around and frowned when she saw how dull the place looked.

'_Not much of a base if you ask me_,' thought Riko as she looked over at Canard.

She saw the drake walking over to the far end of the wall within the warehouse. Riko became curious as she watched the drake stop in front of the wall. Canard raised his left hand up towards the wall as he curled into a fist before the drake started to lightly knock on the solid surface with his knuckles. Riko counted the rhythm of the taps. Two knocks, a pause and then two slow taps. Canard dropped his arm down to his side before he walked back to the group again. Everything was quiet within the warehouse. Riko tensed as she waited to see what will happen. Just then, she began to feel the ground shake underneath her feet.

"What the…" started Riko as she looked down at the floor.

Riko's eyes widened in surprise as a large section of the floor began to slide away in front of her and the group as it revealed a large gapping tunnel that led down underneath the ruin city.

"Whoa…" voice Tate in amazement as he looked down into the dark tunnel before him.

"Let's get going," commanded Canard before he jumped into the tunnel with the other ducks following right behind him.

Tanya was the last one to jump in before Tate and Riko looked at one another. Tate smile nervously at Riko before he took a few steps back away from the tunnel.

"Why don't you go first Riko?" suggested Tate with a nervously laughed. "After all, ladies first you know."

"Don't tell me that you're chicken," questioned Riko as she placed her hands on her hips.

"I'm not chicken," replied Tate before he poked his fingers together. "I'm just not a big fan of dark and enclose places."

Riko only raised an eyebrow at Tate: "You know Tate…if you let a silly little thing like claustrophobia get in the way of you battling against Dragaunus then he'll see you as a weakling. Sometimes you just have to face your fears head on and when you do that then you can do anything."

"What makes you so sure about that?" questioned Tate as he looked at the 18 year old in front of him.

"Take it from me," said Riko as she pointed to herself. "I've been on my own since I was a kid and I was afraid of everything that moved, but I knew that I had to face my fears and become stronger so that I can stand on my own two feet. And besides, your 22 years old right, so don't start acting like a baby on me now."

"I'm no baby!" exclaimed Tate as he glared at Riko in anger. "And I'll prove it to you, just watch!"

With that said, Tate jumped into the tunnel with Riko watching him. A smirk spread out on the street fighter's face as she looked down at the tunnel that Tate had jumped into.

"Now that's the kind of spirit that I like to see," stated Riko before she jumped into the tunnel herself with the secret doors of the tunnel closed behind her.

Riko soon found herself sliding down the tunnel at high speed as she rode it down towards the bottom to where the hidden base will be. Riko soon saw the light at the end of the tunnel and quickly braced for impact. She soon found herself sliding across a cool metal floor before she came to a complete stop. Tate was just getting up from the floor after Riko had slid out of the tunnel.

"Whoa, now that was some ride!" exclaimed Tate before he gave Riko a hand up.

"Yeah," replied Riko she began to dust herself down. "Reminds me of one of the carnival rides back home on earth…"

Riko's sentence completely disappeared from her mouth as she soon stared at the place that she and Tate had just winded up in. The room that they were standing in was actually a large hanger with the Aerowing that She, Tate and Kathryn had rode on when they were being attacked by the Saurian war fleet sitting in the middle of the room. Many ducks of different sizes and colors were walking around the hanger with some of them working on the Aerowing's engines. There were two doors located on the left and right walls of the hanger as a duck would either enter or leave through them. Canard and the others stood in front of Riko and Tate with their backs facing them before the leader turned around to face the new recruits.

"Riko, Tate, welcome to the resistance secret headquarters," announced Canard to the human and black duck.

"Whoa!" voiced Tate as his bottom beak hung open in amazement.

Riko stared at the base's hanger in amazement: "This is definitely not something that I would find on my home planet."

"This place is absolutely fantastic!" exclaimed Tate as he spread his arms wide out in amazement.

Mallory looked at Tate with a smirk on her face: "Glad you like it."

"General Canard!" shouted a voice that was heading towards them.

The group turned to see a dark brown drake with dark blue eyes running towards them. The duck had short dark reddish brown hair with a bang hanging over his left eye. He was wearing a black bullet proof vest over a white short sleeve T-shirt, dark brown pants and black combat boots. On his right wrist was the same black circular object that was attached to a dark green band. A large scar ran down from the drake's forehead and across his right eye. The duck looked to be around Canard's age and had the same body structure as him.

The drake quickly came to a halt in front of Canard before he stood to attention while raising his right hand up to his forehead to salute the tan mallard in front of him.

"Sir, the Captain wants to speak with you," in formed the drake.

"Thank you Agni," said Canard before he turned back to his group. "Mallory, you take Tate and Riko to the armory and help them pick out their armor and weapons. The rest of you go help the other ducks around the base."

"Yes sir!" echoed Mallory and the group, minus Riko and Tate, before Canard left with the new duck Agni.

"Come on you two," said Mallory as she began to lead Riko and Tate towards the door on the right side of the hanger.

The two companions followed Mallory through the door as she led them down a narrow hallway before stopping in front of a circular door. Mallory pressed a few buttons on the control panel before the mechanical door opened in front of the group. Riko and Tate walked into the room with Mallory and what they saw inside made their eyes go wide in astonishment.

The room was filled with weapons of every kind and armor that was made for ducks of every size.

"Whoa…talk about a walk-in closet," muttered Riko as she walked over to the armor and began to inspect it.

"Once you two had picked out your armor you can change out of your old clothes in the changing rooms." Mallory informed the Riko and Tate. "The drake's changing room is on the left side of the room and the woman's changing room is located on the right side of the room. I'll leave you two alone now."

With that, Mallory walked out of the room with the doors closing shut behind her. Tate and Riko stared at the doors for a moment before the 22 year old black duck suddenly broke the silence.

"That girl puts the cool in coolness," muttered Tate.

"Oh brother," voiced Riko as she rolled her eyes at the drake before she walked over to the armory.

Riko soon found a long sleeve and long leg fingerless glove cat-suit that was light green on the top and light blue at the bottom. The top half of the light green covered the chest and arms of the suit with two triangle strips going down the suit until they stopped near the outside of the tights with light blue beginning at the bottom. The fingerless gloves on the suite were black with a small black tear drop on the back of the gloves that was encircled by a bit of green.

"This suite looks good," voiced Riko as she took the cat-suit off from the rack before going into the woman's changing room.

About a minute later, Riko came walking out of the changing room in her new suite with only her old runners on her feet. Her hip pouch was sitting inside the changing room along with her other old stuff. Riko soon went over to the armor and found the best armor that would suite her body structure.

It was a white armor chest plate with a dark red collar. It had two brass stripes that formed a 'V' on both sides of the armor. At the bottom edge of the armor was a golden triangle that narrowed to the point where the tip met in the middle of the chest plate. Attached to the chest armor were two metal white shoulder pads with dark green edges on the side and a golden edge in the front of the green. On the left shoulder pad was the same symbol that she saw on Canard's arm and Grin's shoulder.

"These ducks sure like to use hockey sticks for this kind of symbol," muttered Riko as she raised an eyebrow at the symbol that was imprinted on the shoulder pad

Riko took the suite of armor off of the rack and was surprised at how light it was. The street fighter slipped the chest armor over her head. She brought her left arm through the hole within the armor before she got to work in attaching the clip that was on the right side of the chest plating. Her right arm was already through the hole of the armor but attaching the clip of it was a bit of a problem for Riko.

"Hey, you need some help?" asked Tate as he walked up to Riko.

Riko looked at Tate and saw that he was still wearing his old clothing, but he now had on a chestnut brown chest plate with the same triangle and two hockey sticks sitting in the middle of the armor. On his knees were black shin guards with a grey trimming around the edges. He was also wearing black combat boots, a white shoulder pad on his right shoulder and attached to his left wrist was the same black circular object that Riko had seen so many times on her journey through Puckworld.

Riko turned her head away from Tate before replying: "I can do it myself."

Tate only shrugged his shoulders at her as he watched Riko work at the clip for about a minute before the street fighter finally heard it click. A smirk of satisfaction came over the human's face as she felt the tinniest pressure of her armor compress around her chest before she turned to look at Tate again.

"Told you that I could do it," stated Riko as she held her head up proudly.

Tate smirked at Riko before taking another piece of armor off from the rack. Riko saw that Tate was holding two white metal vambraces in each of his hands. Both sides of the vambrace's edges were dark red and on top of the left vambrace was the same flat black circle, which Riko now realized was a hockey puck. Riko took the two vambraces from Tate. She placed the first vambrace with the hockey puck on her lower left arm as it snapped around her wrist while she placed the second one on her right lower arm as it attached itself to her like the first vambrace.

Riko smirked as she looked down at the vambraces that were now attached to her lower arms before nodding in approval.

"These look good," said Riko before she continued on with her search for more accessories to go with her armor.

Riko soon found a golden metal belt with a sliver buckle in the middle, a pair of white and grey boots and metal white knee pads. The street fighter soon walked back into the changing room where her hip pouch sat on the chair along with the hilt of her saber. Riko attached her saber to the left side of her belt before attaching her hip pouch to the right side of her belt. Tate was waiting for the street fighter outside of the changing room door as the 18 year old came walking out in her new gear.

"Looking sharp there Riko," commented Tate as he gave the street fighter a thumbs up.

Riko only smiled at Tate before she began to walk out of the room with the black duck following right behind her. The doors of the room slid open for the two and standing before them was Mallory. The red haired duck was leaning up against the opposite wall that faced the doors of the armory with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Took you two long enough," stated Mallory before she pushed herself off against the wall and walked up to the two as she began to inspect them.

Mallory looked at the two for a moment before nodding her head in approval: "Looks like you two picked some good armor there."

"Thanks," said Tate with a smile.

"So what's on the agenda?" questioned Riko as she placed her hand on her left hip.

"Well…Canard told me on my wrist com that I'm to show you two rookies around the base," replied Mallory. "So let's get moving while we're still young."

"Whatever you say, Spitfire," said Riko with a shrug of her shoulders.

Mallory frowned at Riko for a moment before she gently punched the human in the arm. Riko merely smirked at Mallory before she and Tate began to follow the military soldier around the base. The tour around the base was an interesting one for Riko and Tate as they got to meet the other members of the resistance while also seeing different parts of the base. Some of the ducks who worked within the resistance were a little skeptical about Riko for they had never seen a creature like her before and that made them a little wary about her being in the resistance. Mallory showed Riko and Tate the different locations and rooms of the base before coming to the security center where a female duck sat at the computer.

The duck had pale gold feathers, light brown hair that grew to her shoulders and pale blue eyes. She was wearing a light blue halter-top with a leather grey vest over top, tight blue jeans that hugged around her waist, tan brown one inch high heel boots and a violet head scarf that was tied around her forehead.

The female heard them coming in and quickly spun her chair around to face the trio.

"Hey there Mallory, how's it tripping?" asked the female duck.

"Not too bad considering that I'm showing these two new recruits around the base," replied Mallory as she, Riko and Tate walked up to the female duck.

"Oh, so these two are the new recruits that Canard told me so much about," said the female duck as she stood up from her chair and walked towards Riko and Tate who stopped just behind Mallory. "It's a pleasure to meet you two, my name is Luna Starla. I'm a security officer and a weapon arms specialist like Mallory here."

"Nice to meet you Luna," replied Tate as he held out his hand towards the female duck with her shaking it in reply before letting go. "I'm Tate Jetwing and this girl with the silver hair is Riko Hikari."

Luna turned her head to look at Riko before she walked over to the human to get a better look at the street fighter.

"So you're the human that Canard was talking about huh?" questioned Luna as she looked Riko up and down.

"Yeah, so?" said Riko as she grew suspicious of the female duck in front of her.

Luna didn't reply at first as she kept staring at Riko for a moment before pulling back with a frown on her face.

"Canard told the recruits and I that you were something special," started Luna as she glared at the human in front of her. "But after looking at you myself I can see that there is nothing special about you."

"Looks can be deceiving," stated Riko coolly as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Whatever," said Luna with a huff, "But just to let you know, Canard is my boyfriend so don't get any ideas on taking him away from me!"

"No problem there," replied Riko as she turned her head away from Luna, "Because I'm not interested in dating boys who are older than me or are out of my league. Not to mention out of my species."

Luna was about to retort to what Riko had just said to her when an alarm within the room suddenly sounded. Luna quickly ran back to her chair and began typing away on the console before one of the TV screens on the far upper left corner suddenly turned on. It showed a picture of two ducks riding on hover cycles with one unoccupied cycle following behind them.

"Well, looks like we've got some unexpected visitors." Luna stated as she looked at the two ducks on the screen.

"Those two ducks are Duke and his sister Kathryn," informed Riko when she recognized the two ducks on screen.

"I didn't know Duke had a sister," spoke Mallory as she looked at Riko and Tate in befuddlement. "Why didn't you two tell me?"

"You didn't ask," replied Tate with a chuckle.

Just then, a small beeping noise was heard from the hockey pucks that were attached to Riko's and the duck's arms. Mallory quickly raised her arm up as the top lid of the hockey puck opened.

"Mallory here," said the red head as she looked down at the device on her wrist.

"So that's what these hockey puck objects on our arms are for," muttered Riko as she looked down at the black hockey puck that that was attached to her left vambrace.

"And something tells me that you don't know a hockey puck communicator when you see one," voiced Tate as he gave Riko a funny look.

"How could I?" hissed Riko in a low and angry voice. "I've never even seen a hockey game in my whole life before! Not to mention that I don't play it, much less skate!"

"Oh boy, that's going to be a problem," whispered Tate as he slapped his forehead before speaking into Riko's ear. "It's probably best that you don't tell anyone about you not being able to play hockey."

Riko looked at Tate in bemusement but decided that it was best that she didn't ask any questions about it while Mallory, Luna or any of the other ducks within the resistances are around to hear the conversation. Riko turned her eyes back on Mallory who was nearing the end of her conversation with the person on the communicator.

"Alright, got it," said Mallory and closed the lid of her communicator before she looked over at Luna. "That was Canard. He wants you to open the doors to let Duke and his sister into the base."

"What? You've got to be joking!" exclaimed Luna as she looked up at Mallory in disbelief.

"It's no joke when it comes to Canard's orders," stated Mallory as she looked down at Luna with a glare. "Now you better open those doors to the hanger now before Canard comes in here and starts question your actions on not obeying his orders."

Luna cringed when she heard what Mallory said about Canard coming in here to yell at her. Luna quickly went back to work on the computer as she pressed a few buttons to open the hanger's doors.

Mallory turned back to Riko and Tate: "Come on, we'd better meet your friends in the hanger first before anyone else does."

Riko and Tate quickly followed Mallory out of the room as she led them back to the hanger.

The hanger

The trio soon arrived at the hanger where they stood in front two large doors where they waited for Duke and Kathryn to come through them. Canard and the others were also there as well with Canard standing in front of the group. The mechanical doors opened as Duke and Kathryn rode into the hanger on their hover cycles with one rider less cycle trailing behind them.

"Master Duke! Kathryn!" exclaimed Tate as he ran over to the two in excitement and relief when he saw that his master and Kathryn were safe.

Riko walked over to Duke and Kathryn as she trailed behind Tate. Duke and Kathryn turned off the hover cycles as the vehicles slowly floated down to the ground before the two riders dismounted from their bikes. Tate stopped in front of the two with a smile spread out across his face, but the smile soon faded when he saw the distraught and disheartened looks on both Duke's and Kathryn's faces. Riko also noticed the look on the duo's faces and became concerned as she walked up to them.

"What's wrong?" asked Riko when she came within range of the duo.

Kathryn was the first one to respond as she leapt towards Tate and wrapped her arms around the 22 year old duck's neck as she cried into the drake's shoulder. Tate blinked in bewilderment as he looked down at the young 16 year old girl that was hugging him. Duke slowly walked up to Riko as the young street fighter looked up into the thief's face and saw a deep sadness within his left eye.

"Duke…what's wrong?" Riko asked again as she stared long and hard into the drake's face.

Duke didn't reply at first as he only stared into Riko's golden/amber eyes, but he soon sighed as his shoulder's slumped in defeat before he answered Riko's question.

"Riko…Kathryn and I were at the hideout to get some stuff that could help us within the resistance, but when we got there…"

"When you got there…what!" exclaimed Tate as he looked at his master in expectance as he waited for the older drake to continue while he hugged Kathryn to try and comfort her.

Kathryn was the one to continue her brother's sentences as she spoke up in a small voice: "When we got there…the hideout was raided. Raided by the Hunter Drones that somehow knew where the hideout was. And the others…they're gone…all, gone."

"What!" exclaimed Tate and Riko in disbelief after they heard what Kathryn had said to them.

"It…it can't be," voiced Tate as he looked down at the young female he held in his arms.

"I'm afraid it is Tate," said Duke as he walked up to his young student and placed a hand on the drake's shoulder. "Everyone within the Brotherhood of the Blades was captured while the only ones who weren't captured were killed. There was nothing left within the hideout. The only things that we could salvage there were the hover cycles and Kathryn's tools."

Tate could only look up at his teacher as grief came over his face before his head hung down in despair while he held Kathryn tightly within his arms. Riko's eyes narrowed in anger as she clenched both of her hands into fists while her blood began to burn with rage, first Joseph now the Brotherhood of the Blades.

"Now its personal!" shouted Riko as she lifted her arms up before opening the palm of her left hand and punching her right fist into it. "That over grown lizard is going down once and for all!"

"You took the words right out of our beaks," stepped in Mallory as she came up to stand beside Riko.

Duke turned when he heard Mallory's voice and smirked when he saw the female duck.

"Hey there Sweetheart long time, no see huh?" said Duke as he looked at the red haired duck before him.

"Not long enough if you ask me," stated Mallory with a frown.

"I'm guessing that you two already know each other right?" questioned Riko as she looked between the two mallards while she lowered her arms down to her sides again.

"Unfortunately yes," replied Mallory as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I've been trying to capture this thief and bring him to jail for moths."

"But you were always two steps behind me," chuckled Duke as he placed his hands on his hips.

Mallory only turned her head away from Duke with a frown on her beak. Riko rolled her eyes at the two before she looked over at Tate and Kathryn. The 22 year old was trying his best to comfort the young 16 year old while also trying to hold back his emotions at the same time. Riko began to fell pity for the two ducks as she watched them from afar. Riko soon walked over to Tate and Kathryn before she stood beside them. The street fighter raised her right hand up to place it on Kathryn's left shoulder. The young female duck turned her head to look at Riko as tears still streaked down her face.

Riko gently wiped a stray tear away from Kathryn's face before she began to talk: "Kathryn…I promise you that I'll make everything right again, no matter what it takes. Until then, you have to be strong for we need you to help not only us, but the rest of your people as well. So buck up already and don't let yourself show weakness in front of your enemies."

Kathryn slowly untangled her arms from around Tate's neck before she rubbed the back of her right hand over her eyes. Kathryn soon looked up at Riko again before nodding her head at the silver haired street fighter.

"Okay," said Riko before she turned her gaze back onto Duke. "Now back to the business at hand. While you were gathering the supplies for our fight against Dragaunus, did you find any clues on whom or what might have brought the Hunter Drones to your hideout?"

"I think I have," replied Duke before he dug into the hip pouch that rested on his belt. "I found this little gadget when we were making our way to Kathryn's workshop. My little sister managed to shut it off before we came here."

Duke soon pulled out a small device that was no bigger than a beetle. It had a dull black center which indicated that it once glow a bright yellow before it died and around the dot was a red metal trimming. Riko lifted the device off of Duke's hand as she held it up between her thumb and forefinger while she inspected it.

"No doubt about it," said Riko as she glared at the device in disgusted. "It's a tracking device."

"Let me take a look," stepped in Canard as he walked up to Riko and stopped in front of her.

Riko handed the device over to the captain of the team as Canard stared at the device that he held between his thumb and forefinger before he crushed it within the palm of his hand.

"I thought as much," said Canard in an angry voice. "This tracking device is one of the Saurian's tracking devices."

"So that must mean those Saurian slime-balls could have put that tracking device on one of our team members within the Brotherhood of the Blades." Tate spoke as he rubbed the bottom of his beak in thought.

"Or someone could have deliberately put that tracking device on themselves to lead the Hunter Drones to your hideout," theorized Riko as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"No way!" exclaimed Tate in denial as he glared at Riko. "No one within the Brotherhood of the Blades would ever betray each other."

"Keep your feathers on Tate, I'm only theorizing here," said Riko as she looked over at the 22 year old. "But it could be possible that someone had decided to betray the Brotherhood of the Blade by changing sides to join the Saurian Overlords."

"And I think I know who," stepped in Duke as he pulled something else out from his pouch. "I found this on the floor beside the tracking device."

Duke soon held out a golden feather that sat on the palm of his hand. The sight of the feather quickly brought up a memory within Riko's head: "Duke…could this feather that you're holding in your hand belong to that sharp beak friend of yours?"

"Yeah, there's no doubt about it," said Duke with a grim look on his face as anger filled up within his body. "This feather belongs to Falcone."

Tate and Kathryn's eyes widened when they heard that the feather belonged to the non-duck member of their group.

"You mean…Falcone's a traitor," voiced Kathryn in disbelief as she stared up at her brother with an upset look on her face.

Duke could only nod his head at his sister's question before he tucked the feather back into his pouch. Tate began to feel his temper grow as he clenched his hands into fists.

"How could that guy betray the Brotherhood like this?" whispered Tate in anger.

"Sometimes those who have hearts that are filled with greed or hatred would turn their backs on their friends." Riko replied as she cast her eyes down towards the ground. "I've seen gangs who live on streets of New York City betray each other, and it's never a pretty sight to see."

"Well if I ever see that Falcone guy again he's going to wish that he had never been hatched!" exclaimed Tate as he clenched his right hand tighter into a fist.

"Tate, don't let your anger get in the way of our mission," said Mallory as she walked up to Tate while placing a hand over his tightly clenched fist to comfort him. "Right now we need to focus on taking out Dragaunus first or there will be no hope for our home planet."

"Mallory's right," stepped in Canard, "Now is not the time to let our emotions get the best of us. Now, with that out of the way everyone is dismissed!"

With that, the group dispersed and went their different ways except for Canard and Tanya who stayed behind. Tanya soon walked up to Riko, Duke, Tate and Kathryn before lifting her hand up towards Duke's little sister. Kathryn blinked in surprise when she saw Tanya extending her hand towards her.

"Your name's Kathryn, right?" asked Tanya in a friendly voice.

"Yeah, that's me," replied Kathryn as she took Tanya's hand into her own.

"It's nice to finally meet you, I'm Tanya Vanderflock," said the blonde as she shook Kathryn's hand. "I've heard a lot about you from Riko and Tate."

"I hope it was good," said Kathryn as a smile appeared on her beak.

"It was," replied Tanya with a smile of her own. "I heard that you were great in technology and I was wondering if you would like to work with me when it comes to fixing or inventing stuff."

Kathryn blinked in surprise: "You mean you like to build electronics as well?"

"Sure do," replied Tanya as the two let go of each other's hands and began to walk away from the group together. "I've even invent some of the weapons myself."

"Well…looks like my little sister has finally found someone to converse techno-gizmos stuff with," stated Duke as a smile spread out across his beak.

"Not to mention finding a friend in the process," added Tate with a chuckle.

Riko watched Kathryn walk off with Tanya as they talked between each other in a deep conversation about technology as a sad smile came over her face. Kathryn was lucky that she made a quick friend within the resistance. Just then, Riko was brought out of her thoughts when she suddenly felt Canard place his hand on top of her shoulder and that made the street fighter turn to look at the team captain.

"What is it?" questioned Riko as she glared up at Canard in annoyance.

"I need to talk to you for a moment," replied Canard.

"Alright," replied Riko before she turned to look at Duke and Tate. "I'll meet up with you guys later, okay?"

"Sure, no problem," said Tate with a smile.

"See ya later kid," added Duke with a wave.

Riko nodded her head at them before she followed Canard to a different part of the base where they could talk in private. They walked out of hanger through the doors on the left side of the room. The walk down the hallway was quiet for the two as they made their way to Canard's quarters and Riko soon decided to speak after a long silence.

"So…what exactly do you want me for?" she asked in an untrusting voice.

Canard didn't answer Riko's question right away as they came to the doors of the drake's room. Riko watched as Canard punched in the codes for the lock that was sitting near the right side of his door before it opened with a hiss. The two walked into the room with the door closing behind them. Canard let out a sigh before he turned to face Riko with a serious look on his face as he answered the street fighter's question.

"What I need from you is your help with two missions that I'll be taking up tomorrow. One is for you to accompany me in finding Dragaunus and his headquarters, the second one is for you to help me in finding someone who is working within the slave camps that isn't too far from here." Canard replied as he glared down at the silver haired human before him.

"And this friend of yours is the same one you told me about when we were looking for the mask of Drake DuCaine?" questioned Riko as she leaned up against the doors of Canard's room with her hands resting behind her head.

The drake nodded his head as he crossed his arms over his chest: "The reason why I'm bringing you along with me is because you seem to have a knack for taking down opponents that are bigger than yourself. So I need someone to watch my back when I'm out there looking for Dragaunus's headquarters and Wildwing."

"Hmm…so you want me to be your body guard in a sense," said Riko as she scratched the bottom of her chin in thought.

Canard nodded of his head: "That's pretty much it."

Riko thought it over for a moment before a smirk spread out across her face: "Why not, besides I don't want to spend the rest of my day sitting around in this base all the time."

"Alright," said Canard with a nod of his head. "We'll head out at about 6:30 in the morning so I suggest that you get yourself some sleep until then."

Riko only nodded her head before she pushed herself off the walls of the door. She soon turned around and waited for the mechanical door to open. The door gave a hiss as it parted in front Riko before the silver haired street fighter stepped out into the hallway and made her way back to where the others were. Many thoughts kept racing through Riko's head as she kept thinking about what Canard's friend was like.

"Probably another hot shot who thinks he's all that," muttered Riko as she kept walking down the hall of the base.

How wrong Riko was, for the duck that she will be meeting soon will be the complete opposite of what she is think.

To be continued

Here's a better chapter of the story. Hope you guys like it.

White Hunter, howling out to you and the spirits!


	5. Chapter 5

Silver haired street fighter of war

I do not own The Mighty Ducks or any of the other characters within this story, only the characters that I come up within my mind.

A young teenage/adult girl, who has been abandoned by her mother and ran away from a terrible orphanage, struggles to survive within the streets of New York City but that soon changes when she is suddenly transported to a different world. She now fights to survive a war that is taking place on a planet that isn't inhabited by humans, but by ducks. Can she survive?

The beginning and the first face off: Part 5

Riko let out a groan when she heard the sound of her alarm clock going off beside her bunk bed before she opened her eyes to glare at the stupid machine. She raised her right hand up and slammed it down on the button that would shut off the noisy device. Riko looked at the clock's time and saw the digital numbers of 5:30 flashing in front of her eyes. The street fighter slowly sat up in her bed before crawling out from under the blankets.

Riko was wearing a black short sleeve t-shirt and light blue pants for sleeping wear. She had gotten these new set of clothes from Mallory last night and the street fighter had to admit that the clothes she was wearing were much more comfortable than her old ones.

Riko's bare feet gently touched the cold metal floor as she stood up from her bed. She walked towards the bathroom to get ready for the day while taking her cat-suite and a pair of white socks in with her as well. Riko started up the shower and waited for the water to warm up. Riko turned to look at the mirror that hung over the bathroom sink as she stared at her own reflection.

Her silver hair was a mess while her golden eyes blazed with anger and hatred. The reason for her unruly look was because she had a nightmare about her past last night. Riko had dreamt that she was back at the orphanage again and she was back to being a helpless 12 year old girl. The adults who were running the orphanage had cornered her in a dark room. They began to beat her with broom sticks and whips while also kicking her in the ribs. But the worst part within Riko's dream was seeing her mother standing over her. Her mother was smirking down at her as she gave Riko a sharp kick in the gut while the child lay on the ground in pain. Riko's hatred for her mother only fueled her to the point where she wanted to punch the next Hunter Drone that she'll meet on the streets of the Ice City.

The water was soon at the right temperature and Riko began to strip out of her night clothing before entering the shower as she let the water droplets fall against her body.

'_It's been a long time since I felt this good,_' thought Riko as she closed her eyes while she stood underneath the falling water of the shower. '_I can't even remember the last time I had a shower like this one._'

Riko's thoughts started to wonder back to the dream that she had as the street fighter began to remember what had happen next near the end of her nightmare.

Flashback

_The people that had been tormenting her were suddenly scared away by a bright light that flashed high above their heads. They had all quickly disappeared in a wisp of black smoke as they left the battered up 12 year old Riko lying on the ground. The 12 year old girl slowly curled herself up into a tight ball as she tried to lessen the pain that she felt throughout her body. For a long while, Riko felt the cold grip of loneliness surround her heart as she stayed curled up on the ground, but that soon changed when the young twelve year old suddenly felt someone touching her right shoulder. Riko quickly shot up as she turned to face the person who had touched her and was surprised to see that it was the same duck that she had seen in her last dream._

_The white drake was wearing clothing that was torn in a few places. He was wearing a red jacket with the right sleeve torn off at the elbow while around his wrist and lower arm was a golden vambrace. The drake was also wearing black pants and brown boots._

_The young 12 year old Riko looked up at white drake in fear and confusion while the duck looked down at her with his calm dark blue eyes. The drake slowly stretched his right hand out towards Riko while the young girl flinched and started to recoil away from the mallard. The drake drew his hand back a little as he looked at Riko for a moment before he began to speak to her in a gentle voice._

"_It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you."_

_Riko looked at the drake for a moment with suspicion before the drake slowly stretched his hand out towards her again. The mallard's hand softly rested on top of the 12 year old girl's head while also moving away a few strands of hair from her face. Riko felt a little uneasy at first but soon began to feel less tense as the drake continued to stroke her head affectionately. The 12 year old started to feel an unknown emotion rise up within her chest and before Riko knew it she began to cry. This new feeling was strange to Riko so she wasn't sure how to deal with it. The drake only smiled as he looked down at Riko before he slowly pulled her into a hug._

"_It's alright," said the drake as he held Riko in his arms. "Nothing is going to hurt you anymore."_

End of flashback

That was how Riko's dream ended after she had been rudely awakened by that stupid alarm clock in her room. Riko didn't understand why she was dreaming about that drake but something about the mallard made her…experience unknown feelings that she had never felt in her life before.

'_Man, coming through that worm hole must have messed up my brain somehow._' Riko thought to herself as she turned off the water from her shower.

The street fighter stepped out of the shower and began to dry herself off with the towel that had been hanging on a metal rack. It took a while for Riko to get herself ready but she soon came out of the bathroom in her cat-suite and socks on her feet. The street fighter walked towards her bed before sitting down on the edge while grabbing her boots that stood near the side of the bunk. Riko began to slip them on when she heard a knock at her door.

"Come in!" Riko called out to the person outside of her room.

The doors open with a hiss as they reviled Kathryn walking into the room in her usual clothing. Riko gave Kathryn a nod of acknowledgement before she went back to slipping on her boots.

"I heard that you and Canard are going out somewhere today," said Kathryn as she stood beside Riko while she watched the silver haired human slip on her boots.

"Guess word goes around quickly within this here place," muttered Riko as she stood up from her bed before she walked over to where her armor sat within the bedroom closet.

"Well I've heard it from Mallory after Canard told her about the mission that you two will be taking," admitted Kathryn as she scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Is that all you wanted to talk to me about?" questioned Riko as she buckled her belt around her waist while attaching the hilt of her sword on her right hip while attaching Joseph's bo-staff sideways on the back of her belt.

"That's not exactly the only thing I wanted to talk to you about," voiced Kathryn as she looked at Riko who had just put on her chest armor.

The young 16 year old walked up to Riko as she helped the silver haired street fighter attach the chest armor to her body. Riko let out a sigh as she turned to look at Kathryn.

"Kathryn, I can't take you and Tate along with us," said Riko firmly. "Only Canard and I can take on this mission. If more of us go then who knows what will happen. I can't take that risk in losing both Duke's apprentice and sister to the hands of Dragaunus."

"I understand," sighed Kathryn in disappointment.

Riko looked at the young duck for a moment after she had put on her vambraces. The street fighter knew that Kathryn and Tate wanted to come along to help, but Riko just couldn't take the risk of losing more innocent lives to the wrath of Dragaunus. Riko frowned in thought for a moment before turning to the leather hip pouch that sat on the end of her bed.

"There is one thing you can do for me while I'm away," said Riko as she walked over to her bunk bed again.

The street fighter opened up the flap of her pouch before reaching inside of it. Riko slowly pulled out the journal that she had found in Drake DuCaine's tomb. She handed the journal to Kathryn who looked at it in question.

"I want you and Tanya to decipher some of the words within this here journal for me," Riko explained to Kathryn after she saw the confused look on the young duck's face. "I've been looking at it last night and I can't seem to understand the words that are on the pages. They seem to be written in some sort of language that I'm not familiar with."

Kathryn looked at Riko for a second before opening the journal. The 16 year old gasped when she saw the words on the page.

"No…way," breathed Kathryn in amazement. "These words are hand written in the old dialect of Puckworld."

"You mean…the words that are written on the pages of this journal, is the ancient language of your people?" asked Riko as she pointed at the journal that Kathryn held in her hands.

"That's right," replied Kathryn with a nod of her head. "Master Joseph taught me how to read a little bit of the ancient language, though I might be a little rusty at it by now."

"Well…just do your best in translating those words," Riko encouraged as she gave Kathryn a small smile of reassurance.

Kathryn nodded her head at Riko before the two of them started making their way out of Riko's quarters and into the hallway of the base as they made their way to the hanger. Their walk was a silent one as Kathryn held the journal tightly against her chest with a sad frown forming on her face. Riko looked over at the young 16 year old for a moment before turning to look straight ahead again. The street fighter had to keep her mind focused on the task at hand for she could not afford to mess this mission up with petty feelings getting in the way. The two of them soon came to the hanger where Canard was waiting for Riko.

"You ready?" asked Canard in an impatient voice.

"Yeah," replied Riko with a nod of her head.

"Good," said Canard as he turned and walked over to the hover cycles. "We'll take the hover cycles since they're the best vehicles to use in getting close to Dragaunus's headquarters. We'll then head straight back to Ice City after we find the location of Dragaunus's base. We'll meet up with Tate, who will be waiting for us near the outer boarders of the city, where he'll take the hover cycles back here to the base. After he does then we'll go look for my friend Wildwing. Is that clear soldier?"

"Yeah, I get it Hotshot," said Riko before she turned to look at Kathryn. "We'll be back as soon as we can."

Kathryn nodded her head at Riko before the street fighter began to make her way towards her own hover cycle. Canard mounted on Kathryn's hover cycle while placing his helmet on his head. Riko also put on her helmet before she turned to look at Kathryn again and was a little surprised to see Duke standing beside his sister with a worried look on his face, but it was soon covered with a an encouraging smile. Riko smiled back at Duke as she gave the older duck nod before she started up her hover cycle along with Canard. The two cycles began to rise up from the floor as the doors of the hanger opened to revile the secret tunnel in front of the duo before Riko and Canard took off like a shot. Duke and Kathryn stood watching Riko and Canard disappear down the tunnel before the doors that led to the secret tunnel closed in front of them.

"I hope she'll be okay," spoke Kathryn in a quiet voice.

Duke wrapped an arm around his sister's shoulder: "Don't worry sis, Riko's pretty tough so she'll be alright."

Kathryn looked up at her older brother before nodding her head at him. Duke soon led his sister out of the hanger while he secretly prayed that Riko will be safe on her journey.

In the desert

Riko and Canard rode the hover cycles across the desert in silence as the wind blew in their faces. Riko focused her attention on looking ahead of her before she noticed Canard slowing down. The street fighter quickly slowed down as well before they both came to a complete stop behind a large sand dune. The cycles slowly landed on the ground before Riko and Canard dismounted from them while taking off their helmets and placing them on the seats of the cycles.

"Let's get moving," said Canard as he adjusted the strap of his shoulder bag on his left shoulder.

"And where exactly should we go?" questioned Riko as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"We walk straight up this sand dune, what do-you think?" replied Canard angrily.

Riko glared at Canard as she watched the drake walk towards the sand dune before she followed behind him.

"I don't see why your girlfriend is so interested in you Hotshot," growled Riko as she followed after the drake. "She might think that you're cool and hard core, but all I see is a stuck up jerk that likes to tell everyone what to do."

Canard glared over his shoulder before he shot back at Riko: "Well then human, if you want to live to see another day then you'd better listen to what I tell you. And just for the record, Luna isn't my girlfriend."

"I didn't say anything about Luna," said Riko as she raised an eyebrow up in bemusement.

"You didn't have to," said Canard before he looked forward again as the duo started walking up the large sand dune. "Lune has always been claiming that I'm her boyfriend ever since she came into the resistance."

"So she clings to you like a tick huh?" muttered Riko in amusement. "That's going a bit far."

"Yeah, and it's a pain sometimes," groaned Canard in exasperation. "Luna should know that having feelings for someone when we're in a middle of a war is dangerous."

"Try telling her that once we get back to base," said Riko to the drake in front of her.

Canard didn't answer Riko as the two of them finally came to the top of the sand dune as the duo stared out at the empty space in front of them. Riko frowned as she glared at the open plane for she had a feeling that there's more than just a desert in front of her.

"Nice view," retorted Riko before she turned to look at Canard.

"Looks can be deceiving," said Canard before he loosened the strap on his shoulder as the bag came to rest near his hip.

The drake opened the flap of his leather bag before pulling out the mask of Drake DuCaine that was in its dormant form. Canard placed the mask on his face before activating it as it changed into the golden mask that can show the user what they want to see. The red eyes of the mask glowed as Canard stared out at the wide open desert before him. Riko watched Canard for a moment before the drake smirked under his mask.

"Looks like we're not that far from Dragaunus's base," said Canard.

"How far away is it?" questioned Riko as she turned to look out at the open desert again.

"Pretty far away if you walked there," replied Canard as he looked at Riko once his red eyes dimmed.

"That far huh?" muttered Riko before she let out a sigh. "Well…at least we found the location of the base, and that's good enough for me."

"Yeah," said Canard in agreement as he took off the mask and put it back in his shoulder pack. "We'd better get going then, otherwise Dragaunus will send his Drone army after us."

Riko nodded her head before the two of them quickly slid down the sand dune as they headed back to their hover cycles. Canard and Riko quickly put on their helmets before they leapt on to their hover cycles and started them up. The hover cycles quickly sprung to life as they lifted up from the ground before they shot off towards Ice City.

Back at Ice City

Tate was leaning against his hover cycle as he tapped the middle finger of his left hand on the seat impatiently. Tate was hiding behind some rubble as he waited for Canard and Riko to meet up with him so that he can lead the hover cycles back to HQ.

"Man…this is so boring," groaned Tate and he crossed his arms over his chest. "I hope those two come soon otherwise I'll die from boredom before being shot at by a Hunter Drone."

Suddenly, Tate began to hear a light humming coming towards him. The drake quickly stood up and slowly made his way to the corner of the rubble before looking out from his hiding spot. Tate smiled as he saw Riko and Canard coming towards him on their hover cycles. The drake quickly waved his arm to get their attention before he stepped back as he let Riko and Canard parked their hover cycles behind the rubble. The duo quickly shut off their hover cycles before they dismounted from their bikes while taking off their helmets.

"What took you two so long?" questioned Tate in good humor.

"Sorry for the long wait Tate," said Riko with a smirk as she and Canard placed their helmets in the secret compartments under the seats of their bikes. "But the traffic stalled us a bit behind schedule."

Tate chuckled for he knew that Riko was only joking around with him, but his laughter was quickly stopped by Canard who glared at him.

"You'd better start getting serious here Tate," lectured Canard. "This is no time to be joking around when it comes to taking down Dragaunus and his empire."

Tate frowned at the older drake in annoyance before he looked at Riko: "Right, I'll be taking the hover cycles back to HQ then."

"Make sure that you keep your wits about you Tate," Riko advised to the black drake. "We don't want any Hunter Drones stumbling upon the base."

"You got it Riko," said Tate with a smile as he gave the street fighter the thumbs up.

Tate quickly leapt onto his hover cycle before putting on his helmet. The drake quickly started up his bike before turning to look at Riko and Canard.

"See you guys back at HQ!" exclaimed Tate before he activated his hover cycle with the two other cycles activating as well.

The cycles began to lift up from the ground before they shot forward as they raced through the city with Tate in the lead. Riko and Canard watched for a moment before the two of them started out on their search for Canard's friend. The duo ran through the city for hours while dodging around Hunter Drones that were roaming around the city. Riko and Canard quickly hid in an abandoned alley as they stopped to catch their breath.

"Those drones are persistent," muttered Riko as she leaned against the wall of the alley.

"Well those machines have a one track mind," said Canard sternly as he straightened himself up. "They were programed to hunt down rebels or anyone else that might be wondering around the ruin city."

"Yeah, I know," voiced Riko before she pushed herself off from the wall of the alley. "So, should we keep going?"

"There's no need," replied Canard, "Because we're at the exact location where we'll be meeting my friend."

"How's that then?"

"I've heard from a reliable source that something had happened at the slave camp that Wildwing was currently in. The Hunter Drones will be moving the slaves to another camp and this will be the spot where the slaves are going to walk passed, right in front of the entrance of this alley."

"Smart thinking," muttered Riko before the street fighter leaned up against the alley wall again. "So I guess the only thing we have to do now is to wait, huh?"

Canard only nodded his head at Riko before he leaned up against the opposite wall of the alley. Silence fell upon the duo as they turned their attention on the entrance of the alley while they waited to see the first sign of slaves passing by their hiding spot. It was almost an hour as the two waited for their targets to appear in front of them and that was when a line of slaves started walking passed Riko's and Canard's hiding spot.

"Right on time," voiced Canard as he pushed off from the alley wall with Riko following suite.

"And about time too," muttered Riko as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I was getting bored just standing here."

Canard shushed her while Riko glared at him in annoyance before they began to hear two male voices talking to each other. Canard signaled for Riko to stand where she was while he walked slowly up to the alley entrance. Riko watched while she listened to the voices that were coming closer to their location.

"Dive, what are we gonna do?"

"I hear ya bro. I mean we keep hearing about the resistance, but where are they?"

'_Right under your beak you silly duck,_' thought Riko to herself.

"I don't know. Maybe they're just a legend, like Drake DuCaine."

Riko frowned when she heard what the first voice had said: '_This guy sounds like he's completely given up._'

"It's hopeless, we don't stand a chance."

Canard quickly made his move as he snatched a duck, which looked to be about his height, by the shoulders and pulled him into the alley. Riko took a step back in surprise when she saw the drake that Canard had brought into the alley. It was the same duck that she had seen in her dream last night. He was also wearing the same clothing as well.

'_So this is the guy that Canard was talking about,_' thought Riko as she looked at the white duck in front of her before she noticed a younger drake coming their way.

The young drake had blonde hair that grew down to his shoulders, pale peach colored feathers and blue eyes like the white drake. He was wearing a vest over top of a t-shirt, baggy pants with a hole in the left knee and boots. The young drake was one inch taller than the street fighter and Riko can only guess that this was Nosedive, Wildwing's seventeen year old brother.

"Canard!" exclaimed Wildwing in excitement and surprise as he placed his hands on top Canard's shoulders. "Where have you been all these months?"

'_Wouldn't you like to know?_' thought Riko as she leaned up against the alley wall again.

"I'm of what's left of the military, in the resistance." Canard replied to his friend's question as Wildwing lowered his hands from his friend's shoulders.

"The resistance?" echoed Wildwing in surprise before he turned to look at his brother. "It really exists?"

"Of course it does duck boy," said Riko as she finally made her presence known to the two drakes.

"Wildwing, I want you to meet Riko Hikari." Canard spoke as he introduced the silver haired human to his friend. "She's a new recruit that just joined the resistance."

Wildwing didn't seem to hear his best friend as he stared at Riko in shocked surprise and was about to open his beak to say something, but Riko spoke before he could even utter a word.

"What's up with you?" questioned Riko with a frown. "Never seen a human before?"

Wildwing quickly caught his bearings as he looked away from Riko in embarrassment. Nosedive was the first one to speak after he heard what the silver haired street fighter had said.

"No way, you're a human?" said Nosedive in amazement. "But…I thought humans were only a myth that our teacher had made up in our school."

"Well you're talking to one right now," said Riko with a proud smirk on her face.

"I like a conversation as much as the next duck, but I should probably get to the point as to why we are here," Canard stepped in as he glared at Riko with a look that said 'Shut-up'.

Riko glared back at Canard before she turned to look away from him as she let the drake continue on his conversation with his best friend.

"Anyways, I'm organizing a team of our best special forces," continued Canard. "And a few civilians that we've had our eyes on like you. We're going to take out Dragaunus."

"How, no one has ever seen him," said Wildwing with a shrug of his shoulders before he stuck his hands into his pockets and began to walk away.

"I wouldn't throw in the towel just yet Flashblade," spoke Riko as she got the white duck's attention again.

"She's right Wildwing," stepped in Canard, "Because we found it."

"Found it?" echoed Wildwing as he turned to look at his friend in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"What he means to say is that we found the one thing that you thought was a legend," replied Riko with a smirk.

"It was in an ancient tomb within the mountains that are called Twin Beaks," Canard continued before he slid off his shoulder bag and opened it up as he pulled out the mask that all of the ducks believed to be a legend.

Wildwing and Nosedive stared wide eyed when they saw the item that Canard held in his hand before Riko spoke.

"Gentlemen, may we introduce The Mask of Drake DuCaine itself," Riko proudly said as she looked at the two awestruck drakes that stood before her.

Nosedive quickly became excited: "Oh, didn't I tell ya man. Was Drake DuCaine the main duck or what?"

The 17 year old reached out to touch the mask, but Canard quickly pulled it away while glaring at the young drake in front of him.

"Beat it kid, before you get us all into trouble," growled Canard as he placed the mask back into his shoulder bag.

Riko glared at Canard in anger when she heard what he had said to Nosedive. How could this duck just abandoned a 17 year old and leave him in the slave camps where-who-knows-what could happen to him. Riko quickly stood beside the blonde teenager while crossing her arms over her chest.

"He's not going back to the slave camp," said Riko as she glared defiantly at the 23 year old drake in front of her.

Wildwing was the next one to step up as he stood on the opposite side of his brother while wrapping an arm around Nosedive's shoulders: "And if you want me then my brother is part of the deal."

Canard look like he was going to argue, but Riko quickly spoke again: "Besides, we need more ducks to help us and who knows. Maybe the kid here has some hidden talent that we don't even know about yet. We also have a young member and she'd proved herself to be useful in our battle against Dragaunus."

Canard frown before he finally relented as he saw the determined looks on the trios' faces.

"Okay," said Canard finally before he pointed at Wildwing. "But you're responsible for the kid's safety."

Riko smirked in satisfaction while the two brothers smiled at Canard before Nosedive turned to Wildwing.

"Alright, big bro!" exclaimed Nosedive before he punched his right fist into his left hand. "This smack of a series is party-t-tight."

"Just don't go losing your head Rookie," warned Riko.

"Hey, I happen to be 17 years old Silver," retorted Nosedive as he pointed a finger at Riko.

"And I'm 18 years old, so there." Riko shot back before she flicked her middle finger against the front edge of Nosedive's beak.

"Hey!" yelped Nosedive in surprise as he rubbed the edge of his bill.

"Alright, that's enough you two," ordered Canard as he glared at both Riko and Nosedive. "We'd got to get moving or else those drones will catch us."

Nosedive, Wildwing and Riko turned to look at Canard as they nodded their heads in agreement. The group waited for a Saurian Titan to pass by them before they all ran out of the alley with Canard leading them. Riko kept to the back as she made sure that no Hunter Drones were following them while they raced through the city, but she was taken by surprise when Wildwing slowed down his pace and started running beside her.

"Hey," he said as he started to make a conversation. "Thanks for helping me in convincing Canard to let Dive come along with us."

"It was no big," said Riko as she smirked at the white drake. "Besides, a kid like your brother shouldn't be in the slave camps that are run by those unforgiving lizards."

"But I still owe you one for your help," said Wildwing with a smile of his own.

"You don't owe me anything," denied Riko with a shake of her head before they finally came to their destination.

The group slowed down as they came to the familiar warehouse that Riko and Tate had come to when Canard lead them to the secret tunnel that took the street fighter to the underground base. The group made their way into the building with Riko walking in slower than the drakes for she had a feeling that something wasn't right. The street fighter looked behind her as she detached the bo-staff from the back of her belt before extending it to its full length as she got it ready for battle. Riko looked around the warehouse as she glanced at every shadow that darkened the corners of the building.

'_We're not alone here,_' thought Riko as every muscle within her body started to tense.

The drakes were standing near the wall of the warehouse as Canard started to tap against the wall. Wildwing suddenly noticed that Riko wasn't with them. The white mallard turned to look behind him and saw Riko standing in the middle of the room with a staff in her hands as the silver haired human looked around the place. Wildwing frowned for a moment before he started to get the feeling that someone was watching them. The drake started to look around the warehouse as well before he suddenly spotted something hiding within the shadows of the far right corner. The figure slowly raised its arm up and Wildwing quickly spotted a gun within the figure's hand. Wildwing quickly knew what was going to happen next before he turned to Riko.

"Riko, watch out!" shouted Wildwing.

Riko quickly looked at Wildwing in surprise before turning to look to her right. The street fighter saw the shadowy figure pointing a gun at her before she quickly dodged forward to avoid a bullet that was shot at her. Canard quickly turned when he heard the sound of a gun being fired off before he pulled his puck blaster out from its case, which was hanging on the right side of the drake's belt. Canard quickly fired at the person that was hidden within the shadows of the warehouse as the hockey puck bullet separated into two with a black leather rope attached to both of them. The figure was suddenly tangled up as the two pucks encircled his/her body while dropping their gun in the process. Riko saw her chance as she shortened her bo-staff back to its original size before she quickly ran towards the figure. The street fighter jumped towards the figure as she performed an aerial kick to the intruder's head before landing gracefully back down on her feet in a fighting stances. She watched as the figure fell to the floor unconscious. Canard, Wildwing and Nosedive quickly ran over to Riko as the silver haired human slowly walked over the figure before grabbing him/her by the front collar of their shirt as she brought them into the light. Riko's eyes widened in shock before they narrowed in anger, for the person that she was holding by the shirt collar was a 24 year old man that she knew all too well.

The man had short dark brown hair. His eye color could not be identified for his lids were tightly shut. He was wearing a dark long sleeve shirt, black pants and black runners.

Riko's hand, that gripped the man's shirt, began to shake as white hot anger burned within her veins. The three drakes stared down at the man in befuddlement.

"Another human?" voiced Canard in shocked surprise as he stared down at the man before him.

"Talk about a small world," muttered Nosedive in good humor.

Wildwing looked down at the man for a minute before he saw Riko shaking while she glared hard down at the man she held by the front collar of his shirt. Wildwing narrowed his eyes as he looked at both Riko and the man before he started to talk to the street fighter.

"Riko, do you know this guy?" asked the drake curiously.

Riko didn't answer for a moment, but when she did Wildwing was surprise to hear the venom within her voice.

"I know this man alright," muttered Riko as her eyes narrowed in hatred. "This guy is Carlo Jason, a man that I had hoped to never see in my life again."

Riko would have kept going, but she was quickly interrupted by the sound of metal feet walking towards the warehouse.

"We'll have to talk about it later," said Canard. "Right now we've got to get back to the base."

"What about this guy?" asked Nosedive as he pointed to the man on the floor, "What are we going to do about him?"

"We leave him," replied Riko as let go of the man's shirt collar. "Bringing him into the base will only spell trouble for us. Besides, he's probably in league with the Saurian Overlords any way."

"How can you tell?"

"Call it intuition."

Wildwing could tell that Riko didn't trust this man and for some reason or another, neither did he. The group quickly left the man, Carlo Jason, lying on the ground as they made their way to the secret entrance that had opened after Canard finished tapping on the wall of the warehouse. Canard was the first one to go down with Nosedive following right behind him. Riko and Wildwing were about to jump in next when the street fighter suddenly sensed something coming up behind them.

"DUCK!" shouted Riko as she pulled Wildwing down by his shoulder.

The two were soon pinned down by the Hunter Drones shooting their laser guns at them. Riko quickly extended her bo-staff again and started spinning it around in front of her as she blocked the shots of the lasers while standing in front of Wildwing to protect him. Wildwing watched in amazement before he suddenly noticed the secret door closing behind him. The white mallard knew that if they didn't hurry then he and Riko will be stuck out here with these Hunter Drones. Riko was so focused on blocking the lasers that she didn't realize what was happening until she suddenly felt Wildwing wrap his arm around her waist. The street fighter barely had time to shrink her bo-staff back to its smaller form before she and Wildwing jumped into the secret tunnel with the door closing behind them. Riko and Wildwing slid down the tunnel before they came to a stop as they landed on the floor. Wildwing let go of Riko's waist as the two of them stood up from the floor.

"That…was a close one," said Wildwing with a sigh as he turned to look at Riko.

"Yeah," replied Riko with a nod as she attached her bo-staff back onto her belt again. "But give me a warning next time before you try that trick again."

"Deal," said Wildwing with a smile.

Riko smiled back at the white mallard before the two of them quickly turned to see Nosedive running up to them. The 17 year old quickly came to a halt in front of the two.

"What took you two so long?" asked the young drake in a worried voice.

"We'd just had a run in with the Hunter Drones up stairs," replied Riko as she pointed up towards the roof of the secret base.

"Are you okay?"

"Don't worry little bro," said Wildwing as he reassured Nosedive by placing his hand on the young drake's shoulder. "We're fine, thanks to Riko here."

Riko blinked in surprise before turning her eyes downwards while a blush appeared on her cheeks.

"W-well," started Riko as she tried to find some words to say to Wildwing's complement.

But she was quickly interrupted by Kathryn running into the room with a worried look on her face.

"Riko!" shouted Kathryn before she launched herself forward and tackled the street fighter to the ground.

Riko was taken completely by surprise as she found herself being tackled to the ground by the young 16 year old female duck. Riko sat on the ground as she looked at Kathryn, who had wrapped her arms around the street fighter's neck, with an annoyed look on her face.

"Kathryn, will you just calm down," muttered Riko. "I've told you time and again that I'm not that easy to kill."

"I'm just so glad you're safe," whispered Kathryn in happiness.

Riko let out a sigh, not that she didn't like Kathryn, but this 16 year old was a little too clingy for her taste. Riko looked up at Nosedive and Wildwing as the two drakes looked down at her in bemusement.

"Um…Silver," started Nosedive as he scratched the side of his head in confusion. "Who exactly is this duck?"

It was only then that Kathryn realized that there were other ducks within the room. The 16 year old quickly let go of Riko as she turned to look at Wildwing and Nosedive. Riko let out a sigh of relief after Kathryn let go of her neck before she answered Nosedive's question.

"Guys, I would like you to meet Kathryn, Duke's little 16 year old sister."

Kathryn quickly stood up from the ground as she stared at the two strangers in front of her, but her focus was mostly on Nosedive. Kathryn blushed underneath her feathers for a moment before quickly shaking off her daze.

"Um…uh, hi," said Kathryn timidly.

Nosedive looked at Kathryn for a moment before smiling back at her: "Hi, I'm Nosedive and this is my older brother, Wildwing."

"It's nice to meet you," said Kathrin.

"Same," said Wildwing as he held his hand out in front of him and shook Kathryn's hand.

Riko watched from the floor with a smirk on her face. She could tell that Kathryn had just fallen head over heels for Nosedive. Riko soon stood up from the floor and began to dust herself off before she cleared her throat to get the ducks' attention.

"Okay," she started as she looked at the three mallards in front of her. "Now that we have gotten this whole situation sorted out, why don't we show you guys around the base?"

"Sounds like a plan to me girly-girl," said Nosedive with a nod of his head.

Riko frowned at what she had been called but decided to let it go. Wildwing must have noticed Riko's displeasure for he suddenly placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it," the drake reassured the young human. "Nosedive sometimes calls the girls' within our school that pet name too."

"Well I hope he doesn't make a habit of calling me girly-girl," muttered Riko as she looked up at the white mallard that stood beside her.

Wildwing chuckled before all of them started to walk together, but the four didn't get too far because Canard suddenly came up to them.

"Riko, I need to talk to you for a moment."

Riko let out a sigh when she saw that she was needed again. The street fighter turned to look at Kathryn and the two drakes.

"Kathryn, why don't you show Nosedive and Wildwing around the base?" said Riko as she as the appointed the task to the 16 year old.

"Okay," replied Kathryn with a nod of her head.

Riko soon walked away from the group while not noticing Wildwing watching her leave. The drake was a little disappointed that Riko wasn't going to join them. He wanted to find out more about this strange human and what her home world was like.

'_I guess I'll just have to wait for another time,_' thought Wildwing before he followed after Kathryn and his little brother.

In a different part of the base

Riko was quickly taken by surprise when Canard suddenly pinned her up against the wall of the hallway. The drake had a serious look on his face as he glared down at Riko.

"Alright Riko, start talking," growled Canard in a low voice. "Just who exactly was that man?"

"Why should I tell you?" questioned Riko as her golden eyes glared into Canard's brown eyes.

"Because it's vitally important to know who this man is and if he's a threat to us," answered Canard in a harsh voice.

"Who's a threat?" asked a voice from out of nowhere.

Riko and Canard turned to see Duke and Tate coming up to them with Duke not looking too happy at what he saw in front of him. The distraction gave Riko the chance to push Canard off of her before she turned to look at Duke and Tate.

Riko let out a sigh before she answered Duke's question: "We were being assaulted by a human man that had somehow gotten here to Puckworld; a man who is known to be called Carlo Jason."

"Yeah," stepped in Canard while he glared at Riko. "And for some reason, Riko seems to know a lot about this guy."

"Really?" said Tate in slight surprise as he and Duke turned to look at Riko.

Riko remained quiet for a moment before she finally answered: "Yeah I know the guy and he's bad news."

"How bad?" questioned Duke as he came up to Riko.

"Let's just say that Carlo is the type of guy who likes to link up with people that he can make a profit with," replied Riko. "He's also the type of guy who holds a major grudge against people that make a fool out of him and he won't stop until he gets his revenge."

"Is he really that dangerous?" asked Tate in a worried voice.

"Yeah," said Riko with a nod of her head. "And he'll be even more dangerous if he's hooked himself up with Dragaunus and his followers."

"You seem to know a lot about this guy, don't you?" said Canard in a suspicious voice.

"Carlo and I have an old history together," replied Riko as she glared at Canard. "And I plan on taking him down once and for all since he's shown himself to me again."

With that said, Riko began to walk down the hall with Duke quickly following after her. Tate stayed behind with Canard as he turned to look at the older drake beside him. Canard looked back at him, but his face remained emotionless before he turned and began to walk the other way. Tate watched Canard for a moment before he quickly ran after Riko and Duke.

The duo walked side by side with each other in silence while Tate finally came up to them and started walking with Riko and Duke. Duke was the first one to break the ice as he began to talk with Riko.

"There's more to your past with guy, isn't there Riko." Duke voiced as he looked at the street fighter walking beside him.

Riko didn't speak for a moment, but she soon did after she came to a stop with Duke and Tate stopping on either side of her.

"I was part of Carlo's gang for a while after I ran away from the orphanage," said Riko in a low voice. "All I can tell you was that being part of his gang was one of the worst mistakes that I had ever done in my life."

Duke could tell that talking about the past was painful for Riko so he decided not to press. The formal thief placed a hand on Riko's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile when the silver haired street fighter turned her head too look at him.

"You don't have to say anything else sweetheart," said Duke.

"Yeah, we totally understand," stepped in Tate. "If you don't want to talk about your past, then you don't have to talk about it."

Riko blinked at Duke and Tate in surprise before smirking back at them: "Thanks you guys."

"No big," said Tate with a wink.

"Now, how about we go find Kathryn," suggested Duke as the trio continued to walk down the hallway.

"I think that she's still with the two new recruits," spoke Riko as they walked. "I told her to give the two a tour around the base. I also think that she might have a crush on the younger brother of the two."

"You don't say," mused Tate with a smirk.

Duke chuckled for a moment before he began to talk again: "Sometimes my sister will have a crush on someone for a short time until she moves off to the next drake that is good looking for her."

"And speak of the devil, there's your sister now," said Riko as she pointed ahead of them.

Walking up towards the trio was Kathryn, Wildwing and Nosedive. Kathryn was talking to them about the base until she spotted Duke, Riko and Tate.

"Hey you guy!" shouted Kathryn as she ran up to them.

Wildwing and Nosedive followed close behind while Kathryn ran in front of them. Riko sensed that Kathryn was about to pounce on her again as she quickly ducked behind Duke with Kathryn stopping in surprise. Riko peeked out from behind Duke with a frown on her face.

"Don't even think about tackling into me again Kathryn," warned Riko. "If you do then you'll find yourself in a headlock."

"That's not very nice of you to say things like that," pouted Kathryn as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well you are the kind of duck who likes to tackle her friends down to the ground little sis," stated Duke with a smile.

Kathryn let out a huff as she turned away from both Riko and Duke. Wildwing let out a chuckle along with his younger brother as they came up to the group.

"It looks like you don't like being hugged very much, huh Riko?" teased Wildwing in a joking matter.

"Not by much," replied Riko as she stepped out from behind Duke. "Anyways, Wildwing and Nosedive I want you to meet Duke and his student, Tate."

"Nice too meet you," said Tate as he held his hand out towards the two ducks.

"Same here," spoke Wildwing as he shook hands with Tate before shaking hands with Duke.

"We're glad to have a few more recruits in our fight against Dragaunus," said Duke with a nod of his head.

Wildwing nodded back at Duke before he turned to look at Riko: "So, are you free to show us around the base?"

Riko smirked at Wildwing before winking at him: "Sure am mate."

Wildwing smiled before they all started up on the tour again with Duke and Tate coming along for the fun. Riko walked beside Wildwing while his brother walked on the other side of him and Riko couldn't help but feel comfortable around this white mallard that stood as tall as Canard.

'_Maybe he's not like his Hotshot friend after all,_' thought Riko within her head. '_But that doesn't mean I should let my guard down around him, for who knows what he's really like around people._'

With that thought in mind, Riko continued to show Wildwing and Nosedive around the base along with Kathryn, Duke and Tate.

To be continued


	6. Chapter 6

Silver haired street fighter of war

I do not own The Mighty Ducks or any of the other characters within this story, only the characters that I come up within my mind.

A young teenage/adult girl, who has been abandoned by her mother and ran away from a terrible orphanage, struggles to survive within the streets of New York City but that soon changes when she is suddenly transported to a different world. She now fights to survive a war that is taking place on a planet that isn't inhabited by humans, but by ducks. Can she survive?

The beginning and the first face off: Part 6

Riko sat at a large circular cafeteria table with Duke, Tate and Kathryn as they began to talk about the two brothers that will be joining them on their mission tomorrow morning. Riko and the others had just shown Wildwing and Nosedive to their rooms where they could wash off the grim that had coated their bodies for weeks. After that, the group had headed for the cafeteria to get something to eat.

"Man, I never thought that we would get two new members this soon," said Tate to his group members.

"Me neither," spoke Kathryn with a nod of her head. "And I have to admit that Wildwing's little brother, Nosedive, is really cute."

"You always call every boy cute after you fall head over heels for him," teased Duke before he took a sip of his coffee.

"I do not!" exclaimed Kathryn.

"Yes you do~" sung Tate in a teasing voice.

"We're getting off topic here you guys," stepped in Riko as she placed her fork down on her empty plate. "It's true that we have two new team members for our fight against Dragaunus, but we don't really know much about them. Not to mention that we haven't figured out what their skills are yet."

"That's true," said Tate in reluctant agreement. "But still, Wildwing and Nosedive did seem like a couple of pretty nice guys."

"Being nice doesn't cut it when it comes to battling against the Saurian Overlords," stated Riko in a serious voice. "Those lizards aren't going to show any kindness to us. All they see in front of them are a bunch of ducks that they want to use as slaves."

"Or have as their dinner," growled Kathryn in disgust.

"Well Riko should be lucky," said Tate as he looked at the silver haired human with a smirk. "She's not a duck, so those ugly old lizards wouldn't care about her so much."

"Maybe," voiced Riko "But let's not forget that there's another human here on Puckworld right now."

"Carlo Jason," said Duke in a low tone of voice.

"Yeah, and from what you told us about him that guy is going to be trouble," muttered Tate as he leaned against the palm of his left hand with his elbow resting on top of the table.

"Maybe those lizards will turn that guy into one of their meals if he messes up one too many of their plans," said Kathryn as she tried to help lightened the mood of the group.

"Don't get your hopes up," cautioned Riko. "That guy is as slippery as an eel, so if he feels threatened then he'll find a way to escape without a scratch."

"Sounds like this Carlo guy will be tough one to beat when it comes to fighting him, huh kid?" said Duke as he looked at Riko who sat beside him.

"Yeah," said Riko with a nod of her head.

The table soon grew quiet as Riko, Duke, Tate, and Kathryn became lost in their own thoughts. They didn't know how long they had been sitting at the table, but they were soon brought out of their thoughts when Riko suddenly stood up from her chair.

"I think it's time that we start getting ourselves ready," spoke Riko. "Canard want's us up bright and early tomorrow so let's get to our rooms and pack up as much of our stuff as we possibly can."

"Right," echoed Tate and Duke as they nodded their heads at Riko.

"And speaking of stuff," said Kathryn as she stood up from her chair and began to walk around the table to stand in front of Riko. "I believe this belongs to you."

Kathryn held out the journal that Riko had given to her before the street fighter had gone out with Canard this morning. The 18 year old took the journal from Kathryn.

"Tanya and I tried to decipher the old Puckworldian language," started Kathryn as the silver haired human looked at her expectantly. "But the language is a lot more complicated than we had ever expected it to be. It's as if the words had been combined with another language and the only thing that we could make out is a few words that are written on the first page of chapter one. They say 'The mask of Drake DuCaine will reveal the story' and that's all that we can get out of it."

"I see," muttered Riko as she looked down at the book that she held in her hands. "So the only way we can get anything out of this journal is if someone, who possesses the mask of Drake DuCaine, reads this ancient book."

"And the one who has the mask right now is Canard," Tate pointed out to the group. "But I don't think that he would be interested in looking at the journal right now. Not when we have lizards to fight tomorrow."

"Yeah, you're right kid," said Duke in agreement. "We'll just have to talk to him about the journal after our fight against Dragaunus."

"That sounds like a good idea to me," said Kathryn with a nod of her head.

Riko didn't say anything for she had her doubts that Canard would help in discovering what the words in the journal would mean. Just then, the doors to the cafeteria swished open and in walked the two Flashblade brothers. They were now wearing fresh clean clothing.

Wildwing was wearing a dark blue jacket over top of light blue T-shirt, black jeans and white runners with golden/yellow edges on them. The older brother's feathers looked a lot whiter than Riko had seen them before.

Nosedive was wearing a white T-shirt with a dark green vest over top, blue jeans and white runners with gray edgings on them. The 17 year old looked a lot better than from before when Riko first met him and his brother.

"Well, aren't you two looking cool and collected" said Riko in a teasing voice.

"Not to mention hansom," voiced Kathryn as she stared at Nosedive dreamily.

"Why thank you Kat," said Nosedive with a bow.

The 16 year old blushed under her feathers while Duke and Tate snicker between each other in amusement. Riko rolled her eyes at the scene being playing out in front of her before looking at Wildwing with a smirk.

"You're brother's quite the lady charmer," said the street fighter.

"Tell me about it," voiced Wilding with a smile.

"So, did you two come here to get something to eat?" questioned Riko.

"Yeah," replied Wildwing with a nod of his head. "I'm hoping to quiet my brother's loud stomach so that we can get a good night's sleep for once."

Riko let out a small chuckle when she realized that the white drake was joking around with her while Nosedive glared up at his brother in disapproval. Wildwing only smiled at his little brother before he noticed the book in Riko's hands.

"What's that you've go there?" asked Wildwing curiously.

Riko blinked before looking down at the journal that she held in her hands: "Oh this? This is just an old journal that I found in Drake DuCaine's tomb while Canard and I were looking for the mask."

"You mind if I take a look at it?" asked Wildwing.

Riko thought for a moment: '_I don't see any harm in just letting him see it._'

Riko soon handed Wildwing the journal as the drake took the book into his own hands. He opened the book and began to slowly flip through the pages of the journal while frowning at the words that were written on the surface of the paper.

"Hmm…" Wildwing hummed as he looked at the 13th page of the journal. "I recognize the ancient language of our people, but I'm not quite sure what to make of it."

"They just look like a bunch of scribbles to me," spoke Nosedive as he too looked at the journal with a frown.

"Shows what you know, kid" muttered Duke with a smirk.

"I bet if Professor Stonefeather were here he would know what these words would mean," said Wildwing to himself.

Pain stabbed at Riko's heart as the silver haired human looked down at the ground in sadness. Wildwing quickly looked up from the journal as he stared at Riko for a moment before looking down at the floor as well while softly shutting the book close.

"Canard told me what had happened to him," voiced Wildwing.

"Then you don't need me to explain it to you," muttered Riko in a low voice.

"Why?" asked Nosedive as he looked between his brother and Riko "What happened to the old man?"

Riko and Wildwing turned to look at Nosedive before sharing a glance at each other. Wildwing let out a soft sigh before he turned to look sadly at his younger brother.

"Dive, I think it's best that you sit down" said Wildwing.

Nosedive looked confused for a moment, but he soon sat down at the table beside Kathryn. Wildwing took a seat beside his brother while Riko sat down beside Duke as the older brother began to tell Nosedive the bad news. Nosedive's eyes were wide with horror and disbelief as he listened to what his brother was telling him while Riko and the others all bowed their heads sadly. Wildwing soon finished the story and everyone was quiet at the table. After a few moments, Nosedive finally spoke in a small voice.

"I…I can't believe it," whispered Nosedive with a shake of his head as tears started to form in his eyes. "He can't be gone."

Wildwing wrapped an arm around his younger brother as he tried to comfort the young drake. Riko sat quietly with the others as she stared down at the surface of the table.

"I'm sorry Nosedive," spoke the silver haired street fighter. "It's my fault that Joseph had died."

"Riko…" voiced Kathryn as she looked at the human in front of her.

"It should have been me that the Hunter Drones had taken instead of him," continued Riko as she tightened her hands into fists.

Nosedive looked at Riko in surprised after he heard what she said to him. The young drake looked down at the table before shaking his head and spoke to the human girl.

"It wasn't your fault Riko," said Nosedive as he looked up at the human that sat beside Duke. "You did everything that you could to help Professor Joseph."

Riko looked up in surprise as she stared at the blonde haired duck in astonishment and saw Nosedive give her a sad smile. The silver haired human didn't smile back for she only turned her head down to look at the table top for a moment before standing up from her chair.

"I'm going to head back to my room now," Riko informed the group. "There's a lot of packing that I need to do."

With that, Riko walked out of the cafeteria and headed to her room. The two Flashblade brothers stared in confusion before looking at the other three ducks for an answer to Riko's behavior. Tate was the one who finally spoke as she told the two brothers about Riko's sudden leave of absents.

"I guess Riko still blames herself for Master Joseph's death," spoke Tate in a gloomy voice.

"Can you blame her?" said Duke with frown. "After all, Riko is still new to this whole war against evil thing."

"But that doesn't mean that she has to keep blaming herself for what has happened," reasoned Kathryn.

Wildwing looked down at the table and suddenly realized that he still had the journal: "Puck, I forgot to give Riko back her journal."

"You'll find her room down the hall," said Kathryn as she informed the older brother on where he could find Riko's room. "Just take a left and head straight down, the door will be on your first right."

"Thanks," said Wildwing before he turned to look at Nosedive as his arm down drop from the teenager's shoulders. "Will you be okay on your own little bro?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay" replied Nosedive with a smile.

Wildwing nodded before he got up from the table and headed out of the cafeteria as he went in search for Riko's room.

With Riko

Riko was walking down the hall as she headed towards her room. Many thoughts ran through her mind as she thought about what had happened back in the cafeteria.

'_I can't believe that kid, Nosedive, didn't blame me,_' voiced Riko within her head. '_After all, I'd failed to save Joseph Stonefeather from the clutches of that slime ball Dragaunus._'

Suddenly, Riko was brought out of her thoughts when she accidently bumped into Mallory.

"Hey, watch it" growled the red head angrily.

"Sorry," said Riko in a calm voice. "I wasn't paying attention."

"Not paying attention huh?" said Mallory as she glared at Riko. "That could get you into big trouble if you bump into the wrong duck."

"Look, I'm sorry, I just have a lot on my mind today," said Riko.

Mallory gave a questioning glance at Riko: "Like what?"

"I don't know," replied Riko as she leaned up against the left hallway wall "Probably everything that's been going on with me."

"Like a certain duck's death?"

Riko turned head to look at Mallory as the red head crossed her arms over her chest. The street fighter frowned before she let out a sigh as she cast her eyes downwards to look at the floor.

"I guess Canard already told you and all the other resistance members about what happened to Joseph then huh?" muttered Riko.

"Yeah," replied Mallory fiercely. "And just for the record, I think it really was your fault that Joseph died on us."

"Duke and I tried the best we could to save him," said Riko as she turned to look at the female again.

"Well maybe you two should have tried harder!" snapped Mallory.

Riko began to feel her anger boil to the point where she would explode with anger. This red head had some nerve in berating her, but what Mallory said next really got Riko riled up.

"But I guess that's to be expected from a human and a thief working together," continued Mallory with a sneer. "When some duck is on their last leg then the ones who wind up saving them would always leave the duck for dead at the Saurian Overlord's hands."

Riko quickly pushed herself off the wall as she stood in front of Mallory at her full height.

"If you think that you could do better in saving a person's life then I like to see you try!" shouted Riko as she curled her hands into fist. "Besides, Joseph knew that he was going to die before Duke and I got to him!"

"That still doesn't mean that you should have left him in that prison cell!" barked Mallory as she flung her arms down to her side.

Riko's fists clenched tighter into her palms as she tried to speak her defense, but she was taken by surprise when someone else spoke for her.

"Don't blame her for what happened."

Riko turned and saw Wildwing walking up to them before he was standing right beside her.

"Besides what happened, happened" continued Wildwing.

Riko looked up at Wildwing in shocked surprise while Mallory looked up at the white drake in disbelief.

"Don't tell me you're siding with her," said Mallory as she pointed at Riko in anger.

"I'm not siding with anyone here," said Wildwing calmly. "All I'm saying is that Riko tried her best."

"And all I'm saying is that this human doesn't belong here in the resistance!" snarled Mallory. "In fact, she doesn't ever belong here on Puckworld either. She's just some human that decided to jump head first into a portal without thinking first!"

"I jumped in head first because I heard your people screaming in pain!" shouted Riko.

"So what, you should have just stayed back home with your family" said Mallory coolly.

Riko flinched back as the words that came from Mallory's mouth stabbed her in the heart before the 18 year old looked down to the ground. Mallory smirked in satisfaction for a moment before she was suddenly surprised by what she heard from Riko next.

"I don't have a family," muttered Riko before she quickly ran down the hall and away from the two ducks.

Mallory watched Riko's retreating from for a moment before looking at Wildwing who stood glaring at her.

"You just had to press buttons, didn't you?" growled the drake before he ran after the human girl.

Mallory stood where she was for a moment before leaning against the wall in exhaustion: "What have I done?"

Back with Riko

Riko ran for what felt like hours until she reached the doors to her room. She quickly came to a stop before throwing a right hooked punch at the metal door before she leaned her forehead against it.

'_Why did that red headed female have to bring that up?_' shouted Riko within her head. '_Why does everyone have to bring that up?_'

"Riko?" said Wildwing as he walked up to the silver haired human.

Riko straightened up as she looked at the white drake in front of her: "What?"

Wildwing sighed as he scratched the back of his head with his left hand uncomfortably.

"Look, I know you're in a bad mood right now but I just want to give something back to you" Wildwing explained before he brought his right hand up to show Riko her journal. "You forgot this in the cafeteria."

Riko blinked in surprise as she looked down at the journal before looking up at Wildwing again. A blush appeared on her face as embarrassment came over her.

"Um…thanks" said Riko as she gently took the journal from the drake. "I guess I must have spaced out back there and forgot all about this silly book."

"I can't blame you," said Wildwing as he leaned up against the wall beside Riko's doorway. "After all, if I was in your shoes that I would have probably space out too."

Riko couldn't help but smile at the drake in front of her before nodding her head in agreement. Silence came over the two for a second before Wildwing spoke again.

"Riko, if you don't mind, I like to know a bit little more about where you came from."

"What do you want to know?" asked the silver haired human.

"Well…does your world have hockey on it?"

Riko laughed a little before shaking her head: "You ducks always seem to have hockey on the brain, huh?"

"Sometimes we do," Wildwing said with a shrug "But sometime we like to do other things too."

Riko smiled as she soon began to tell Wildwing about her home world and what it was like as the drake listened intently to details while firing off a few questions here and there. The two soon came to the topic about asking what Wildwing's home was like before the Saurian Overlords invaded it. Wildwing told her all he could on what he knew about Puckworld and what it was like back then until he started talking about his family, but he quickly stopped when he saw the sad look on Riko's face.

"Hey, you okay?" asked Wildwing gently.

Riko held the journal tightly against her chest before answering Wildwing's question: "You're lucky that you had a family that loved you and your little brother when you were younger."

"Didn't you have someone who loved you back on your home planet?" asked the drake.

"No," replied Riko with a shake of her head. "My mother never took notice of me after I was born. I was always taken care of by her servants and…"

That was when Riko stopped after she quickly realized that she was revealing too much of herself to the white drake. Wildwing looked at Riko in confusion before understanding why she stopped.

"You don't like to talk about what happened to you in the past do you?"

"I don't really talk about my past to anyone that I don't trust," corrected Riko.

"I see," muttered Wildwing as he looked down at the floor sadly.

The two sat in uncomfortable silence for a while before Wildwing spoke again: "That's okay, you don't have to talk about if you don't want to."

Riko looked up at Wildwing in surprise as the drake pushed himself off from the wall before he looked down as the silver haired human in front of him.

"You can talk about yourself once you feel a little more comfortable around us," reassured Wildwing. "I won't force you into telling me what you're past was like until you're ready to talk about it."

Riko kept staring up at Wildwing in wonder. This guy was willing to be patient with her until she was ready to talk to him about her past. The other people that she had met in the orphanage were always trying to force her to talk about her past while Wildwing was going to wait for her sake.

"Thanks Wildwing," said Riko in a soft voice.

Wildwing looked at her curiously: "For what?"

"That you're willing to be patient with me," answered Riko.

"Well, when it comes to taking care of a little brother for a long time then you tend to do things at your own pace," explained Wildwing as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"So I'm just another sibling to look after then, huh?" teased Riko with a smirk.

"I didn't mean it like that," said Wildwing as he held his hands up in front of him in defense.

Riko only chuckled with Wildwing looking at her in confusion before he too began to laugh as well when he realized that the 18 year old was only playing him.

"What's going on here?" called a voice from behind Riko.

The that two of them quickly stopped laughing before the silver haired human quickly looked over her shoulder and saw Canard walking up to her and Wildwing. Riko could quickly tell that the tan duck wasn't in a good mood today.

"Oh, hey Canard" greeted Wildwing when he saw his childhood friend as the tan drake stopped in front of them. "I was just talking to Riko here."

"Is that so," muttered Canard as he looked down at Riko.

Riko merely looked back into Canard's eyes as she glared into the drake's brown orbs. Wildwing noticed the tension between the two before he quickly began to talk again.

"Canard, I was only giving Riko's journal back to her," explained the mallard as he tried to ease the tension between the two. "She accidently left it with me when she left the cafeteria."

"And speaking of the journal," stepped in Riko. "I gave Kathryn the journal to see what she and Tanya could make out what the words in this book said. It turns out that the words in this journal were written in the ancient words of your people. So far they were only able to translate a few words in the first chapter."

"And what did they say?" asked Canard in suspicion.

"The worlds said 'The mask of Drake DuCaine will reveal the story'" answered Riko calmly to the leader of the resistance group.

Canard raised an eye brow as he looked at Riko curiously before he began to think about what the human had told him. Wildwing quickly became interested at what Riko had said before he spoke.

"Are you saying that the journal might hold something important within its pages?" asked Wildwing.

"I don't know," said Riko with a shrug of her shoulders as she looked at Wildwing. "But if it does, then we have to make sure that the journal doesn't fall into the hands of those over grown geckos. Also, I think the journal will be safe, after all the mask only works on humanoid ducks."

"That may be true, but we can't take the risk in letting that journal fall into the wrong hands." Canard spoke as he crossed his arms over his chest. "And since you're so attached to that journal Riko, I'll assign you to guard duty in protecting that book with your life."

"No fear there," muttered Riko with a roll of her eyes.

Canard only frowned: "Just remember that we have to leave early tomorrow."

"Yes sir," said Riko before Canard turned and walked down the hall that he came down from.

Riko let out a sigh before looking at Wildwing: "Is he always this grumpy with everyone he meets?"

"Mostly he doesn't like Nosedive," answered Wildwing with a sigh. "It's the same with my brother as well. The two of them just don't seem to get along with each other."

Riko frown as she began to think about what Wildwing had said before speaking her idea to the drake.

"If you ask me, I think that the reason the two are fighting is because Canard and Nosedive are two completely different drakes," Riko theorized. "After all, Nosedive is a teenager and still has a lot to learn while Canard is one of the top notch soldiers in the military. With their personalities colliding with each other then there's bound to be a conflict."

Wildwing frowned as he thought over what Riko had just said and couldn't help but agree to what the street fighter had told him. Nosedive and Canard were complete opposites of each other and they had never once gotten along with each other ever since they first met. That also got Wildwing wondering that maybe the two might wind up fighting each other in the near future. The drake let out a shudder at the thought of it as the cold grip of fear wrapped around his heart. Riko noticed the drake's disturbed look before she gently placed her left hand on top of Wildwing's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it Flashblade," reassured Riko with a smile. "Besides, we need to keep our focus on the battle against Dragaunus tomorrow."

"Thanks Riko," said Wildwing with a small smile forming on his beak.

"No problem," said Riko with a wink before she dropped her hand down from the drake's shoulder. "Now, I better start packing. You think you'll be okay in finding your way back to the cafeteria?"

"I'll be fine," answered Wildwing. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you," said Riko as she watched Wildwing walking away from her.

Once the drake was gone Riko opened the doors to her room and walked inside as she got to work in packing for the big battle tomorrow.

Night time: In Riko's room

Riko was found resting under the blankets of her bunk bed. Everything was quiet within her room, but it didn't last for long. Riko sleep quietly for a while until she started to toss and turn in her bed as beads of sweat started rolling down her forehead. The street fighter was dreaming a terrible dream and this time it wasn't about her past.

Dream world

_Riko was standing in the Aerowing with her teammates that were chosen to take down Dragaunus and his minions. The Aerowing was shaking violently as the street fighter tried her best to keep her balance before she was suddenly thrown up against the wall of the battleship._

_Wildwing was standing in the front of the plane with Tanya and Nosedive sitting in front of the controls. She couldn't hear what they were saying but she quickly caught sight that they were flying through some kind of blue tunnel and she saw something glowing in front of the Aerowing's window. Everyone was holding on tight as they tried to steady themselves against the violent jerking of the plane. Riko held on to the wall for dear life before she turned her attention to the leader of the group and saw him walking towards the hatch door before pressing the button to open it. A strong whirlwind suddenly started up once the hatch door was fully opened._

_Riko quickly opened her mouth and called out Wildwing's name. No words came out of her mouth, but the drake must have heard her for he quickly turned his head to see what the problem was and saw Canard. Riko didn't know what was happening next for everything became a blur for a moment, but everything came into focus again and the street fighter saw Canard falling out of the hatch door. Wildwing grabbed Canard's out stretched arm before Riko quickly ran up behind the white drake and grabbed him around the waist. Grin came up behind Riko as he quickly grabbed her around the waist as well. The trio pulled with all of their might as they tried to pull Canard back into the safety of the Aerowing. Wildwing's grip began to slip until he was holding onto the mask that was in Canard's hand. Riko felt her heart stop within her chest as the cold grip of fear dropped into her stomach._

_Canard grabbed hold of the edges of the mask before he looked up at Wildwing with a serious and, if Riko was mistaking, pleading look before he spoke the first few words within Riko's dream._

"_Take it, you're team captain now."_

_With that, Canard let go of the mask before he disappeared before the trios' eyes. Riko's eyes widened in horror and before she knew it, she started shouting out the first words that came to her lips._

"_NOOOOOoooooo…!"_

End of dream

"No!" screamed Riko as she quickly shot up from her bed.

Riko panted as her heart pounded hard against her chest while beads of sweat rolled down her face. Riko was in a daze for a moment before she finally calmed down as she looked down at the sheets of her bed.

"Oh man…that was tense," muttered Riko as she raised her left hand up and placed it against her forehead.

Suddenly, the silver haired human heard a knock at her door and she quickly responded.

"Come in," said Riko in a faint voice.

The door opened as the lights within Riko's room quickly turned on. The light's reviled Wildwing and Duke standing in the doorway of Riko's room.

Wildwing was wearing an old jersey and black pants for sleeping wear while Duke was wearing a white shirt with short sleeves and dark blue pants. The two drakes walked into Riko's room as they came up to the 18 year old girl's bed.

"Hey guys," greeted Riko in a soft voice. "What's up?"

"We were hoping you could tell us," responded Duke.

"We heard you screaming down the hall when we were heading for bed," spoke Wildwing as he sat down on the edge of Riko's bed. "We came to check to see if you were alright."

"I…I'm fine," answered Riko as she lifted her left hand up to her forehead again. "I just had a bad dream that's all."

"It must have been really scary if it made you cry out like that," said Wildwing.

"What was this dream about?" asked Duke curiously.

"It was so confusing in the beginning" replied Riko as she looked up at the older drake once she placed her hand back down on her lap. "We were all riding in the Aerowing together while we flew through some kind of blue tunnel. We were being attack by…I don't know what, but near the end of my dream Canard decided to do something foolish."

"What do you mean 'Foolish'?" Wildwing pressed on.

"Well…" continued Riko as she took a deep breath. "Canard decided to open the side hatch door of the Aerowing. Then you, Grin and I were trying to pull the idiot back into the Aerowing after he fell out, I don't know how he fell out, but he did. You were holding on to Canard's arm, which was holding the mask, and you were losing your grip on him. The only thing connecting you two was Drake DuCaine's mask and what he said next was something that really surprised me."

Duke urged Riko to continue: "What did he say?"

Riko hesitated before she looked at Wildwing: "He spoke to you Wildwing and he said to take the mask and that you were team captain of the group now."

Wildwing blinked in shock as he stared at Riko in confusion before he spoke slowly to the 18 year old.

"Are you sure that was what he said?" asked the drake gently.

"Yes," replied Riko with a nod of her head. "I don't know what that dream meant, but it was probably nothing."

"You're probably right kid," said Duke as he placed a comforting hand on Riko's shoulder. "But sometimes dreams can show people the future without them knowing it."

Riko looked up at Duke for a moment before looking down at her hands in thought. Could he be right? Was she really dreaming about what will happen to Canard in the future? Riko's hands tightened into fists as she felt that same cold fear drop into her stomach again, but she was suddenly brought out of her fear when Wildwing gently placed his right hand over hers. Riko looked up at the white drake in surprise as she saw Wildwing giving her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure that nothing happens to Canard" said Wildwing.

Riko looked at Wildwing for a moment before she smiled at the drake and nodded her head in agreement. The conversation soon came to an end after Duke and Wildwing made sure that Riko was alright and the two drakes headed to their own rooms. Riko sat in her bed while still thinking about her dream. Could her dream really be the vision of the future? Riko quickly shook her head to get those thoughts out of her head.

'_Get a grip Riko_' she thought to herself. '_Nothing is going to happen to Canard, not as long as I'm still breathing. Besides, that hotshot is too stubborn to die._'

Riko quickly lay down as she got back to sleep, but what she didn't know was that her dream would soon become a reality when their mission to over throw Dragaunus began tomorrow.

To be continued


	7. Chapter 7

Silver haired street fighter of war

I do not own The Mighty Ducks or any of the other characters within this story, only the characters that I come up within my mind.

A young teenage/adult girl, who has been abandoned by her mother and ran away from a terrible orphanage, struggles to survive within the streets of New York City but that soon changes when she is suddenly transported to a different world. She now fights to survive a war that is taking place on a planet that isn't inhabited by humans, but by ducks. Can she survive?

The beginning and the first face off: Part 7

Riko swung a sack over her right shoulder as she stood in the middle of the room that had been her temporary sleeping quarters for the last one in a half days. Riko had already put on her gear before packing up the last few items that she will need for the groups fight against Dragaunus. Riko let out a sigh after she took one last look around the room before shouldering her bag and began walking towards the door.

The door hissed open as the 18 year old took a step out into the hallway and suddenly bumped into someone. Riko almost fell backwards but was quickly steadied by a large gloved hand that grabbed her left shoulder. Riko looked up to see Wildwing standing in front of her.

Wildwing was wearing white armor over a dark green battle suite. On both of the drake's hands were large metal gauntlets with the thick gloves being a dark grey. On the right cuff of the gauntlet was a green jewel or device with gold rimming around it and on the left gauntlet was a launcher that was a half golden oval shape with a rectangle sitting behind it. There was also another rectangle on the left shoulder of Wildwing's armor. Two sets of golden stripes were mounted at the bottom of the drake's chest armor. The wide collar around the top of the chest armor was a rouge color. Around Wildwing's hips was a golden metal belt and on the drake's feet were white boots.

The armor that Wildwing was wearing looked to be strong enough to withstand any attack that might be thrown at him by the enemy that they will be facing soon.

"Sorry," echoed Wildwing and Riko together.

The two blinked in surprise as they stared at each other for a moment before they shared an embarrassing blush as Wildwing drew back his hand that he used to steady Riko. Wildwing scratched the back of his neck with his left hand.

"Okay…That was awkward," said Wildwing in a joking matter.

"I'll say," said Riko in agreement. "Anyways, are you ready to get going?"

"Yeah, I am" replied Wildwing with a nod of his head. "I was just coming to get you. Everyone is waiting for us at the Aerowing."

"Then let's get moving," said Riko with a smirk.

With that said, Riko and Wildwing started walking down the hallway together while also sharing a conversation once in a while. Even though Riko had only met Wildwing yesterday, she kind of felt as if she had known the drake all her life. They soon arrived at the hanger where they saw their team members getting ready to board the Aerowing. Kathryn was wearing her usual clothing, but there was one new added feature on her. She was now wearing a white belt with a green jewel in the middle.

Kathryn was talking with Tanya about some of the equipment that they had gathered on the Aerowing before Nosedive came up to them.

Nosedive was wearing armor that was similar to Wildwing's armor, but not as bulky. Nosedive's armor was white with grey trimmings instead of gold. Two grey stripes were imprinted on the bottom on the young drake's chest armor while on the left armored shoulder pad was a picture of a grey duck mask with two hockey sticks mounted behind it. Nosedive was wearing a short sleeved shirt underneath the chest armor and grey fingerless gloves with knuckle guards on the top. And finally, on top of the young drake's beak was a battle patch that was similar to Canard's battle patch.

Riko rolled her eyes in amusement when she saw Kathryn beginning to talk with Nosedive while trying to flirt with him. Tanya just watched the two with a smirk on her face.

"Oh brother," muttered Riko with a shake of her head. "Here we are, trying to save Puckworld from Dragaunus and Kathryn is trying to get a date with your brother."

"Ease off Riko," said Wildwing with a smile as he placed his right hand on the 18 year old girl's shoulder. "After all Kathryn's just a teenager, just like my brother."

"I guess you're right," said Riko with a small smile.

"Hey Wildwing, Riko!" shouted Duke from the Aerowing as he waved them over.

The two walked over to the ex-thief as Canard walked down the ramp that led up to the Aerowing's cockpit.

"You two certainly took your sweet time," said Canard with a frown as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Sorry we're late, I had a few things to pack," said Riko with a shrug of her shoulders.

"I'll say kid," spoke Duke as he pointed at Riko's sack. "It looks like you've barely have anything in that bag of yours."

"That's because I barely own anything, One Eye," said Riko as she playfully punched Duke in the chest.

"Well…looks like you do have some humor in you Quick Silver," teased Duke with a smirk.

Riko rolled her eyes at the thief before she suddenly frowned as she looked past Canard and Duke. Standing behind the two drakes was the fiery red head herself…Mallory. Riko and Mallory stared at each other as for a moment until Riko shouldered her sack and began to walk up the ramp as she headed for the cockpit of the Aerowing.

"Riko wait!" shouted Mallory as she called for the silver haired human to stop.

Riko did stop before she turned to look at Mallory in expectance. The female duck hesitated for a moment before she finally spoke again.

"Look…I'm sorry about what I said to you yesterday and…"

"Mallory," interrupted Riko as she looked down at the red head in front of her. "Even though I'll accept your apology, it still doesn't mean that we'll be friends until we've really earned each other's trust."

Mallory stared up at Riko in surprise as the silver haired human turned and continued her way up the ramp again. Kathryn, Nosedive and Tanya walked up to the rest of the group to see what was going on.

Nosedive was the first one to speak among the ducks: "What was that all about?"

"I'm thinking that Riko and Mallory are having a hissy fit with each other," said Kathryn as she answered Nosedive's question.

"O-or they could be having, you know, an argument that we don't know about," added Tanya.

"Hey guys!" called out Tate as he and Grin walked up to the group.

"What took you two so long?" asked Kathryn.

"Sorry Kat," said Tate as he scratched the back of his head. "Grin and I had to ask around because we couldn't find the Aerowing's hanger."

"You got lost didn't you?" muttered Mallory as she gave Tate an inquisitive look.

"No, no, we didn't get lost we…"

"We'd got lost," said Grin as he admitted what Tate wouldn't say. "And I have learned that Tate has too much pride to admit that he needs a little help once in a while."

"You're not helping," muttered Tate under his breath.

"Tate does tend to have an urge in wanting to do things all by himself sometimes," said Kathryn with a smirk. "And in the end he always winds up falling flat on his face."

"You're not helping either!" snapped Tate angrily.

"Whoa, cool your jets Tate," said Duke as he tried to calm down his apprentice.

"Duke's right Tate," spoke Wildwing as he entered the conversation. "Our priority is to fight Dragaunus, not each other."

"You're right," said Tate with a sigh before he turned to look at Kathryn. "Sorry for snapping at you Kathryn."

"That's okay," said Kathryn with a smile.

"Okay everyone," spoke Canard as he cut into the conversation. "This is the chance that we've been waiting for. It is time to take down Dragaunus and to take back our home planet, so failure is not an option."

"Yes sir!" shouted the group.

In the cockpit

Riko placed her sack in one of the compartments that hung above her head before quickly shutting it close.

"There," said Riko with a satisfied smirk on her face. "That should do it."

"Looks like you're ready for our fight against Dragaunus," said Canard as he walked up to Riko.

"You could say that," said Riko as she turned to face the Team Captain.

The tan duck stopped in front of the silver haired human as he stared down into the golden/amber eyes of the 18 year old. Riko quickly began to tense under the Team Captain's gaze after about two minutes.

"What's with that look you're giving me?" asked Riko with a frown.

"What exactly is going on between you and Wildwing?" questioned Canard in a dangerous tone of voice.

Riko growled at Canard: "Nothing is going on between me and Wildwing, Hotshot."

"Oh really?" challenged Canard as he crossed his arms over chest. "Then why exactly are you two looking so chummy together after only meeting each other yesterday?"

Riko became annoyed with the questions that Canard was asking her: "What exactly is wrong with you today?!"

"What's wrong is that you still haven't told me about your connection with that other human we've encountered yesterday!" snapped Canard.

"Carlo was a guy that I once worked with on the streets of New York," said Riko as she tried to keep her cool in the conversation. "I stole things for him, that's all."

"Is it?" questioned Canard.

Riko's blood began to boil as she glared up at Canard in fury. Unknown to her or Canard, Wildwing was listening in on their conversation as he stood quietly behind the door while he watched the heated argument between his best friend and the silver haired human. Riko began to poke Canard angrily in the chest as she spoke the next words that emerged from her mouth.

"So that's it huh? You don't trust me around your friend, do you?"

"I don't trust you around my best friend, period!" exclaimed Canard as he grabbed Riko's hand in his own right hand. "So you'd better watch your step while I'm around."

Riko clenched her teeth as she felt the drake tighten his grip on her hand. Wildwing soon decided to make his presents known as he walked out from the shadows of the door's entrance.

"Canard, stop it," said Wildwing in a warning voice.

Canard and Riko were surprised to see Wildwing, but Canard quickly let go of Riko's hand while giving her one last glare before he walked passed Wildwing and out the door. Wildwing watched his friend leave before he turned to Riko and walked up to her.

"Are you okay Riko?" asked Wildwing.

"Yeah, I'm fine," replied Riko as she rubbed her hand gingerly. "But I have to say, your friend has a strong grip that could rival Grin's."

Wildwing gently frowned before he took Riko's hand into his own and began to examine it. Riko stood patiently as she let the white drake look at her hand as he lightly pressed down on her palm with two of his fingers.

"Do you feel any pain when I do this?" asked Wildwing.

"No, not really," replied Riko with a shake of her head. "But I'll probably sprout a bruise there later on."

"You're pretty tough for a human," said Wildwing with a chuckle.

Riko gave Wildwing a smile before she frowned as she thought over what she and Canard had argued about a minute ago. She soon decided to ask Wildwing a question about trust.

"Wildwing…do you trust me or do you feel like I'm hiding something from you and everyone else in the group?"

Wildwing looked at Riko in surprise for a moment before he answered the 18 year old girl's question.

"That's kind of hard for me to say Riko, but I do know one thing. Despite you being a stranger to me and the others who just met you, I know that I can trust you."

Riko was surprised to hear that Wildwing trusted her, but she still wasn't sure that she could trust him yet with her past.

"Also," Wildwing continued as he let go of Riko's hand. "Even if you are keeping secrets, I can tell that they're personal ones and that you're not ready to talk about your past with anyone yet until you really trust them."

Riko stared at Wildwing for a second before she let out a snort of amusement.

"Am I really that easy to read?" questioned Riko with a smirk.

"Hmm…a little bit," answered Wildwing with a smirk of his own as he gave Riko a wink.

The two soon began to laugh and for the first time in Riko's life, she felt like she found a true friend.

5 minutes later

The team members were now all on board the Aerowing with Canard at the controls. Riko was sitting in one of the back seats of the Aerowing along with Kathryn, Tate and Nosedive. The other members of their group were at the controls as they got ready for lift off. Riko adjusted her seatbelt before looking over at Kathryn, who was looking down at her hands that were folded in her lap.

"You okay?" asked Riko in a low voice.

"Yeah," whispered Kathryn in a small voice. "I'm just a little nervous that's all."

"We all are Kathryn," said Tate as he joined in on the conversation.

"Not me," said Nosedive in a boastful voice. "I've been waiting to kick those lizards' tails for a long time."

"Get serious Rookie," muttered Riko as she gave Nosedive a dull look.

"I am serious Silver," said Nosedive. "You're just being too serious."

Riko frowned in amusement as she shook her head at the 17 year old drake. Nosedive was a one of a kind duck who always want to joke around a lot. The group soon felt the engines of the Aerowing roaring to life.

"Passengers, please make sure that your seats are in the upright position," Nosedive announced to the group before shouting out the next line of his sentence "because we're out of here!"

After he said that, the Aerowing shot forward down an underground runway as the team members hung on for the ride. The Aerowing raced down the tunnel until it started tipping upwards and, after a minute, the aircraft was flying out of a cave, which was located underneath the city, as it took to the skies at an incredible speed. Riko let out a sigh before she unbuckled her seatbelt, along with some of the other team members.

"That was extreme," voiced Tate.

"You're telling me man," said Nosedive in agreement.

Riko walked up to the front as she watched the scene of open desert before her from the Aerowing's window.

"You doing okay kid?" asked Duke as he came to stand beside Riko.

"Yeah," replied Riko with a nod of her head. "I'm just…thinking about what's going to happen next after we've defeated Dragaunus."

Duke frowned in thought before he spoke: "Who knows Sweetheart. Probably we'll just all go back to our normal lives after this."

"Not for me," said Riko with a shake of her head. "I still need to figure out how the heck I've gotten here to Puckworld."

"And then figure a way to get back to your world, right?" said Duke as he guessed what Riko was going to say next.

Riko frowned: "I'm not really sure on that part yet. I mean…I have nothing to go back too, but I can't really stay on Puckworld either, what with being the only human here and all."

"Yeah, I can see your point kid," voiced Duke.

Their conversation was cut short when Canard suddenly spoke.

"Alright team, here's the plan," started the drake. "The monitor towers are controlled by a computer in Dragaunus's headquarters, that's our target."

"That's interesting and all Captain Canard," said Tate from his seat. "But there's just one thing that I would like to point out. No one, and I mean _no one_, has ever seen Dragaunus's headquarters, not even me."

Canard didn't reply for a second as he placed the mask on his face and activated it to its battle form.

"I have, now prepare yourselves we're almost there."

Mallory stood up from her seat and walked up to the window as the red head leaned forward on the control panels of the Aerowing. Mallory frowned when she saw nothing out of the ordinary on the desert.

"Here?" questioned Mallory as she turned to look at Canard. "We're twenty clicks from nowhere!"

"You should always remember the saying Spitfire," spoke Riko as she looked at the red headed duck in front of her. "Looks can be deceiving."

"The Master Tower has an invisibility field around it," Canard explained to his team mate before pressing the temples of the mask with his fingers. "Which Dragaunus calls his cloak of darkness, and we're about to pass through it."

After he said it, the headquarters of the Saurian Overlord appeared before the teams' sights.

"Dragaunus's headquarters!" exclaimed Wildwing in shock and amazement.

"Talk about looking for a puck in a giant snow pile," stated Tate as he too came up to front to see the Overlord's home base.

"Or a needle in a haystack," voiced Riko to herself.

The Aerowing soon landed about ten feet away from the Master Tower. The front ramp of the Aerowing lowered to the ground as the occupants of the airship disembarked on their mission to take down the Overlord. Riko and Wildwing were the last ones down the ramp before they halted in their tracks when they heard Nosedive shouting at them.

"Hey, what about me and Kat?!" asked Nosedive as he pointed at Kathryn and himself.

Riko and Wildwing turned to look back at the 17 year old. Canard had decided to leave Kathryn and Nosedive behind on the Aerowing, which was a good idea on Riko's part, for the street fighter felt that they needed to have half of their team stay behind just in case they needed a quick get-a-way.

"Be team players little bro!" called out Wildwing as the ramp began to fold itself back up again. "Somebody's gotta guard the ship!"

"This is so not fair!" shouted Kathryn in complaint.

"I think we've just got the short end of the hockey stick!" yelled Nosedive as he shook his fist at Wildwing before the ramp door closed in front of him.

Riko shook her head while letting out a sigh before she turned and began to follow the group towards the Master Tower. The tower was gigantic as it stood 100 feet high over the group as they walked up to it.

"Whoa…this guy sure likes to think big," said Riko as she and the group stood in front of the Master Tower's door.

"Well what do, you expect from that overzealous Overlord," said Tate as he looked at the 18 year old human who stood beside him. "He likes to think big."

"Well the _Big_ question right now is: how do we get inside?" asked Mallory.

No one answered Mallory's question as Canard turned to look at Tanya: "Think you can crack the code on this door without setting off the alarm?"

Tanya nodded before she walked up to the control panel and began to examine it. Riko patiently watched for a while before she turned her head to look at Wildwing.

"I'm betting Tanya will open that door in 10 seconds, flat," dared Riko with a smirk.

"I'm betting 8 seconds," said Wildwing with a smirk of his own.

The two quickly became quiet when they heard the doors of the Master Tower open in front of them. The group soon walked into the tower while being careful as to not let any of the Hunter Drones see them, but so far the group had only seen a few drones lurking around the base and that got Riko suspicious.

"Does anyone, besides me, feel like this is too easy?" asked Riko as the team walked down a long hallway.

"What do you mean, too easy?" said Mallory as she looked over her shoulder to glance at Riko with a frown.

"I mean that it feels like we're walking into a trap," hissed Riko in annoyance.

"Don't be ridiculous," muttered Mallory.

"Actually, I kind of have to agree with Riko here," said Tate as he tried to help the 18 year old out. "It does feel like we're walking into a trap."

"Shush!" hissed Canard as he ordered his teammates to be quiet.

The group quickly pressed up against the wall as two Hunter Drones walked past their location. Canard slowly walked up to the corner before peeking out to watch the retreating backs of the Hunter Drones before pulling back. The drake pulled out a small device from his jeans pocket. He looked down at the screen before turning to glance at Wildwing, who had walked up to stand beside him.

"According to our coordinates the main computer is heavily fortified," said Canard before he took off with his team following right behind him as he led the way to their target.

The group ran down many hallways until they finally came to their destination. They glared up at the large door that barred their way to their target. Canard turned to look at Grin as he pointed his thumb towards the door.

"Grin, you're on," said the leader.

Grin smirked as he walked up and grabbed the edges of the metal doors with his bare hands.

"Mind over metal," said Grin before he started to force the doors open.

The group watched for a while until the strongest member of their team finally opened the door for them.

"Remind me not to get on his bad side," whispered Tate to Riko.

"You got it," said Riko.

Canard walked forward as he looked at the scene in front of him. The room was huge as purple electrical tubes ran up and down through a thousand rows of generators.

"The Master Computer," voiced Canard.

"Yeah, I saw this on the cover of better homes for super villains," said Duke in sarcasm.

"This place could definitely use a makeover," muttered Tate to himself.

"Tanya," spoke Canard as he turned to face the tech master of the group. "You take Tate and Mallory and shut it down."

"See ya later Riko!" called Tate as he followed after Tanya and Mallory.

"Tanya, I've gotta warn ya," said Mallory as they headed into the room. "Machines and I don't get along too well."

'_We're doomed,_' thought Riko sarcastically.

She was quickly taken out of her thoughts when Wildwing started talking to the Team Captain.

"Canard, these guys all have special skills, but what am I doing here?"

"You know, that's a very good question," said Riko as she entered the conversation. "What exactly is his role on this team?"

"He's going to lure Dragaunus out, so we can jump him," said Canard as he answered both Riko and Wildwing's questions.

"Huh?" said Riko in shocked confusion.

"Why me?" questioned Wildwing.

"Because you're the best goalie I know. You'll be able to take on anything Dragaunus can throw at you."

Riko and Wildwing looked at Canard in disbelief before turning to look at one another with Wildwing showing a worried look on his face.

"Did I mention that I'm half chicken?" asked Wildwing as he turned to look back at his best friend, clearly showing that he didn't want to do this.

"No you didn't," muttered Riko with a deadpanned look on her face.

With that said, the five team members left the Master Computer as they headed towards the Command Chamber. They ran down a long hallway until they came to a room that had a giant statue of the Saurian Overlord himself.

'_So that's Dragaunus,_' thought Riko as she glared up at the statue in front of her.

"Riko!" called Duke.

Riko quickly ran over to the drakes. They were positioned on both sides of a large door entranceway. Riko quickly took her position with Grin and Duke.

"Is this the place Hotshot?" asked Riko.

"Yeah," replied Canard in a positive voice. "Down this hall is the door that leads to Dragaunus's Command Chamber."

Riko soon began to have that same feeling again: '_Something's not right here. This feels way too easy for us to just be walking into this room. It's got to be a trap, I just know it._'

With that thought in mind, Riko slowly placed her right hand over the hilt of her saber, which rested on the left side of her didn't waste any time in signaling for Wildwing to go on ahead of them. At first, the white drake was hesitant, but soon got up his nerve to go running towards the door of the Command Chamber.

"We'll give him a 30 second start," spoke Canard as he looked down at his watch. "Then we can-"

"Canard!" shouted Riko when she noticed that two metal doors were sliding forward to seal off the entrance to the Command Chamber.

The metal doors slammed shut in the team members' faces before Canard jumped forward and tried to pry the doors open with his own hands.

"Well," spoke Duke as he looked at the Team Captain with a frown "So much for your plan Canard."

"I knew it," muttered Riko to herself. "This was all just a trick to lure us here."

"Too bad you realized it too late, Riko," spoke a voice from behind the statues pedestal.

The group quickly turned their attention towards the statue and saw the one man that Riko and Canard had encountered back at the abandoned warehouse. Riko quickly drew her blade as her golden eyes glared into the brown orbs of Carlo.

"Just as I thought," growled Riko. "You are working for Dragaunus, aren't you!?"

"Why Riko, I am shocked by your bluntness in speaking to me like that. I see that you still haven't changed ever since you decided to leave my group," said Carlo in a smooth voice. "But yes, I am working for Dragaunus and I have to say that it beats living life on the streets."

"How did you get here Snake!?" demanded Riko in a harsh voice.

"Why don't you battle me and find out, traitor," said Carlo with a smirk. "Also, I would like you to meet a few friends of mine."

Suddenly, in a flash of green light, three Saurians appeared before Riko and the ducks. One Saurian was as large as a boulder with thick muscles to boot and he looked like an ankylosaurus.

The second Saurian was a tall and old looking. In the Saurian's right hand was a staff with a duck skull sitting on top.

And the last Saurian was small, green and skinny. It had red shifty looking eyes that Riko wouldn't trust her life on.

Riko quickly guessed that these three Saurians were Wraith, Siege and Chameleon. Carlo smirked as he stood close to the tree Saurian Overlords.

"I hope you boys are ready to pluck some feathers off of those ducks," said Carlo in a cool voice.

"Oh you know it," growled Siege with a smirk on his face.

"Well I have a better idea on how we should handle them," spoke Wraith. "Let's roast them."

With that said, Wraith summoned a fireball and threw it at Riko and the drakes.

"Duck!" shouted Riko as she and her team members hit the floor.

Riko rolled as the fireball flew over her head before she quickly jumped back onto her feet again. Riko raised her sword up as she got ready to fight Carlo and the three Saurians.

To be continued

Sorry for the long wait guys, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

White Hunter, howling out to you and the spirits!


	8. Chapter 8

Silver haired street fighter of war

I do not own The Mighty Ducks or any of the other characters within this story, only the characters that I come up within my mind.

A young teenage/adult girl, who has been abandoned by her mother and ran away from a terrible orphanage, struggles to survive within the streets of New York City but that soon changes when she is suddenly transported to a different world. She now fights to survive a war that is taking place on a planet that isn't inhabited by humans, but by ducks. Can she survive?

The beginning and the first face off: Part 8

Back at the Aerowing, Nosedive was sitting in the pilot seat while he glanced at all of the buttons that were displayed on the control panel. Kathryn was standing right behind Nosedive with her hands on her hips while she watched the 17 year old drake in front of her. The two teens were tired of sitting on the bench as they waited for their friends to return from their mission.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing Nosedive?" asked Kathryn with a doubtful look on her face.

"Sure I'm sure Kat girl," answered Nosedive as he turned to look at the 16 year old behind him with a confident smirk on his face. "How hard can it be to get this heap in the air?"

Kathryn only rolled her eyes, but kept quite as she watched the blonde haired drake in front of her. Nosedive frowned as he stared long and hard at the controls that were displayed in front of him before smirking as his eyes laid on one of the small orange buttons on the dashboard.

"Alright!" shouted Nosedive excitedly. "Nosedive to tower, here goes nothing!"

Nosedive cover his eyes with his left hand as he raised his right hand up and pressed his finger down on the button that he had chosen. A few seconds passed but the blonde didn't hear the engines of Aerowing start up. The teen dropped his hand from his face before turning his gaze on the front window where he saw the windshield wipers flipping back and forth in front of him.

"Wrong button Rookie," said Kathryn in a dull voice.

"Rats!" exclaimed Nosedive as he snapped the fingers of his right hand in frustration.

"You know I can help," offered Kathryn. "I know a little bit about how to start up the Aerowing."

Nosedive raised an eyebrow up in surprise before he turned his seat around to face the female duck that stood behind him.

"Why didn't you tell me that sooner?" questioned Nosedive.

"I just wanted to see how far you'll go in figuring out how to start the Aerowing up," replied Kathryn with a smirk.

Nosedive frown as he glared at Kathryn in amusement. For a 16 year old Kathryn sure knew how to press someone's buttons.

"Okay then Mrs. Smarty Pants, answer me this question. Do you know how to fly this heap?"

Kathryn's smirk faltered as she stared at Nosedive for a second before turning her gaze down to the ground in embarrassment. Nosedive smirked when he saw that he had won the battle before he started speaking again.

"Okay then, I'll tell you what. You help me get the Aerowing up and running then I'll take it from there. Is that a deal?"

Kathryn looked back at Nosedive in shock for a moment before smiling at the blonde: "You got it, Rookie."

With that, the two teenagers got to work in starting the Aerowing up.

The Master Computer Chamber

Back inside the tower, Tate, Mallory and Tanya were setting up the bombs in the Master Computer chamber. Tate was just placing his bomb on one of the generators before looking over at Tanya that was setting up her own bomb a few yards away from him.

"All set over here Tanya!" shouted Tate as he gave the yellow she-duck a wave.

"Alright!" called Tanya as she began to give Tate and Mallory instructions. "Now throw the toggle switch!"

"Got it!" exclaimed Tate as he easily flipped on the switch.

As for Mallory, the red head wasn't sure on what Tanya had said as she looked back and forth from the red button to the switch.

"Toggle switch," muttered Mallory with a frown before deciding which one to press "Affirmative!"

Mallory's finger hovered over the switch for a second before moving to the red button where she quickly pressed it and that's when things started to get chaotic for the group. Tanya quickly saw what Mallory had done as panic began to rise up within her body. Tate also saw what the red head did and there were only two words that he could say at this moment in time.

"Oh-no," he muttered.

Tanya quickly ran over to Mallory as she grabbed the red head by the arm.

"I told you to throw the switch, not press the button!" yelled Tanya as the two of them quickly raced over to Tate who waited for them before he took off running as well.

"Switch, button, what's the difference?" questioned Mallory.

"Simple," spoke Tate as he began to answer Mallory's question. "It only gives us 9 minutes of escape time!"

As soon as he said it, Mallory's bomb quickly went off as an explosion occurred behind the trio before they quickly jumped down from the plat form to avoid getting burnt to a crisp.

With Canard's group

Riko and the rest of Canard's team members were trying to put up a great fight against Dragaunus's henchmen and Carlo. Grin was taking on Siege who was swinging him around for a while but was soon let go as the Saurian sent the drake flying before Grin slammed into the wall of the chamber. Canard was holding Chameleon within his arms as the skinny lizard wriggled around to get out of the drake's hold.

"Stand still you shape shifting sicko!" exclaimed Canard angrily.

Chameleon soon surprised Canard as he shape shifted out of the drake's arms and was now on the floor in the form of a small baby.

"I'm only three and a half years old," said Chameleon in a baby's voice.

The lizard soon shifted again in to a more muscular figure before he punched Canard in the face as he knocked the drake to the other side of the room.

"Kids grow up so fast these days," spoke Chameleon with a smirk.

Riko was sword fencing with Carlo as the 24 year old man locked swords with the silver haired teenager. Carlo's sword was black at the hilt while the blade was a crimson red that glowed like molten lava.

"What a waste that you're talent in being used on the losing side while it could have been more useful on the winning side," berated Carlo with a smirk.

"Stick a sock in it!" growled Riko as she unlocked blades with Carlo before taking a swipe at him.

The two human's continued their sword fight with each other as they tried to get a hit in with their sabers. Duke was looking for Wraith who had somehow disappeared from the battle. The drake held his saber at the ready when he quickly sensed someone behind him before he turned and saw Wraith standing before him with a sword held in his hand with the blade made of nothing but hot flames.

"Care to fight fire with fire?" growled Wraith before he shot forward and slashed Duke across the chest.

Luckily the sword only burnt through Duke's shirt and not the flesh. Duke turned to glare at Wraith, but quickly saw that the old Saurian wasn't alone on his assault. Chameleon, still in his giant form, was standing beside Wraith as the two of them started to gain up on Duke. Riko saw what was happening to one of her teammates before she quickly kicked Carlo away from her then ran over to help Duke. The 18 year old jumped over the two Saurians by doing a backflip in the air before landing on her feet beside the older drake.

"Mind if I join in?" asked Riko with a smirk.

"The more the merrier," replied Duke with a smirk of his own.

The two held their sabers at the ready as Wraith, Chameleon and Carlo started to advance on the two teammates. Off to the side, Canard was slowly getting up from the floor when he suddenly saw Siege standing over him.

"Now duck, you're lunch meat!" growled the Saurian.

But before Siege could lay a blow on Canard he was suddenly grabbed from behind by the tail. The Saurian quickly looked behind him to see that Grin had grabbed him before he felt himself being lifted off the ground by the larger duck. Grin started to spin the heavy weight Saurian around before letting go of his tail. Siege was sent flying towards the other members of his group before he collided with them. Riko and Duke watched as Carlo and the three Saurian Overlords crashed into the wall. Riko turned around to face Grin with a smirk.

"Nice throw big guy!" she called out.

Carlo and the three Saurian Overlords slowly got off of each other as they tried to recover from what had happened to them. Suddenly Siege's communicator came on line as a voice yelled from the other end of the line in urgency.

"Siege, bring the others to the Raptor at once!" shouted a voice from the other end. "The power cells, they're overloading!"

Siege quickly responded as he and the others within his group stood up from the ground and gathered around each other. Carlo turned to glare at Riko as he pointed the blade of his sword towards the 18 year old.

"This isn't over yet," growled Carlo angrily.

Riko glared at Carlo before she and Duke quickly shield their eyes from the bright green glow that surrounded Carlo and the three Saurian Overlords before they disappeared from the group's eyes.

"I'm thinking maybe that was a little _too_ easy," said Duke as rubbed his bottom beak thoughtfully.

"Forget it," spoke Canard as he and Grin ran up to the duo. "We gotta find Wildwing."

"Right," said Riko as she deactivated her saber along with Duke. "Grin, you know what to do."

"As I said before," spoke Grin as he walked over to the door that had cut the others off from Draguanus's chambers. "Mind over metal."

Grin quickly slipped his fingers between the two doors before he started to use his strength to pry them open. The doors soon opened and the group quickly ran into the hall as they started their search for Wildwing. Riko was ahead of the three drakes with a determined look on her face.

'_Don't worry Wildwing, we're coming!_' thought Riko firmly within her head.

Riko continued to run when her vision suddenly flashed for a second before a familiar streak of light came across her vision. The streak of light quickly made a sharp turn to the right. Riko didn't hesitate as she quickly followed after the streak of light in hopes that it will lead her to Wildwing. Canard, Duke and Grin followed after the 18 year old as fast as their feet could carry them.

"She's fast," stated Grin to his two companions.

"Much faster than any of us," said Canard. "That makes me wonder if our so called _friend_ really is human."

"Now's not the time to start judging her Canard!" exclaimed Duke as he glared at the tan drake. "Right now we got to find Wildwing and following Riko is our best option at the moment."

"And what makes you say that?" questioned Canard.

"Let's just say that Riko has a strong feeling on where we might find our missing friend," answered Duke.

The three drakes continued to follow Riko where the silver haired led them to a platform with a control panel standing in front of them. Riko quickly looked over the edge of the platform and saw an 18ft drop where electrical rays sparked was below her, but what Riko saw being lowered to the rays was what really made her heart stop. Slowly being lowered to the electrical rays was Wildwing as he was standing on a small platform with his feet chained down to it.

"Guys, over here!" shouted Riko as she pointed down towards where their teammate was.

Canard, Duke and Grin quickly came up to where the 18 year old was standing and looked down to see what she had found.

"Wildwing!" yelled Canard in fear.

"We gotta figure out a way to help him or he'll be…" Riko didn't dare finish her sentence as she quickly started to think of something before noticing the large vent above their heads. "That's it, Duke use your grappling hook on that vent up there!"

"You got it Silver," said Duke.

Duke quickly lifted his right arm where his grappling hook was resting on his wrist before activating it. The grappling hook instantly shot out and flew through the air before it wrapped around one of the grate bars of the vent. With his saber activated in his free hand, Duke quickly jumped off of the platform as he swung towards Wildwing. The white drake quickly grabbed hold of the ex-thief as Duke cut the bonds around his ankles before the older drake swung the two of them back up onto the platform. Riko quickly stepped towards Wildwing after he and Duke landed safely on the platform.

"Are you okay?" asked the 18 year old.

"Yeah, I'm fine," answered Wildwing with a reassuring smile.

Riko let out a sigh of relief when she heard what Wildwing had said, but her relief was short lived when the group suddenly felt the platform shake underneath their feet. Riko was nearly thrown off the platform, but Wildwing quickly grabbed her left arm and pulled her back from the edge.

"What the heck…" started Duke as the group stared at each other in confusion.

"Red alert!" shouted Tate's voice as he, Mallory and Tanya ran down the hallway towards the group. "We gotta get out of here now people!"

"Tate, what's going on?" questioned Riko as she looked at the black drake in confusion.

"Let's just say that Mallory was right," said Tate once he and his two team members stopped in front of the group. "Machines _really_ don't get along with her too well."

Suddenly the outside wall of the hall blew up behind the group. The team members slowly turned their attention to a large hole that was now present in front of them.

"That was unexpected," muttered Riko with Wildwing nodding his head in agreement.

The group made their way towards the hole with Canard in the lead and they looked down towards the ground.

"The Aerowing is gone!" exclaimed Canard angrily when he saw that their aircraft wasn't there before he turned to glare at Wildwing while pointing an accusing finger at him. "That little brother of yours he…"

Canard was quickly interrupted when he and the group heard the loud engines of the Aerowing. They all looked in astonishment as their plane suddenly appeared in front of them, but they were more surprise to see who was flying it. Sitting in the pilot seat was none other than Nosedive with Kathryn standing behind him.

"Yee-haw!" cheered Nosedive excitedly "Nosedive and Kathryn to the rescue!"

Riko smirk as she crossed her arms over her chest: "What was that about Wildwing's little brother?"

Canard turned to glare at Riko while Wildwing placed a hand on top of the silver haired human's shoulders.

"Now's not the time to get into an argument Riko," said Wildwing firmly.

Riko looked at Wildwing in surprise for a second before lowering her eyes down to the ground. Wildwing was right, now wasn't the time for her and Canard to start butting heads with each other while other lives were on the line. The front ramp of the Aerowing unfolded where it was able to reach the edge of the hole that the group was standing in front of. Everyone quickly ran up the ramp as they headed towards the cockpit. Once everyone was inside the front ramp of the Aerowing quickly foaled back up as Nosedive backed the plane up before putting it into overdrive so they could escape the collapsing tower. The group members soon made it to the cockpit where Riko, Wildwing and Tanya quickly making their way over to Kathryn and Nosedive.

"You two sure know how to make an entrance," praised Riko as she stood beside the two teens with a smirk on her face.

"It's what we do," echoed Nosedive and Kathryn.

With that said the team started to chase after Dragaunus and his ship. They were already on the raptor's tail when suddenly aircraft shot an electrical beam out in front of it and what happened next really took the group by surprise. Appearing before the groups' eyes was a large tunnel with the raptor was flying right into it.

"What the heck is that?" questioned Wildwing.

"H-his ship seems to be generating some kind of dimensional gateway," answered Tanya when she inspected the readings on the control panel of the Aerowing.

"That's the same dimensional gateway that I came through," voiced Riko once she recognized the blue portal in front of her. "And just by looking at it I'm guessing our lizard fiend is going to use it to escape to another dimension."

"Then we'll follow him!" exclaimed Wildwing before he turned to Nosedive. "C'mon baby bro, punch it!"

"Hang on!" shouted Nosedive before he sped the Aerowing up.

The Aerowing shot forward as it followed the Raptor into the dimensional gateway with the aircraft quickly catching up to the Saurian ship.

"We got them now!" exclaimed Tate excitedly.

But the black drake's joy didn't last for in that instant a strange giant creature suddenly appeared in front of the teams' vision. The creature had an electrical blue body that was in the form of a worm and was about the size of the Aerowing. The plane started to jolt around when the strange creature suddenly wrapped its large body around it and the group had to work desperately to keep their footing. Wildwing quickly grabbed the back of the seat that Tanya was sitting in to steady himself.

"Tanya, what is that thing?" ordered Wildwing.

"Well, if I didn't know better, I'd say that's an electromagnetic worm!" answered Tanya fearfully.

"What's an electromagnetic worm?" asked Riko.

"It's a creature that likes to feed off of metal and other electrical devices," spoke Kathryn as she answered Riko's question.

"Hey if that thing gets big enough it will swallow the entire ship!" exclaimed Duke from his seat.

"So how are we going to get rid of it?" Riko asked before she nearly stumbled into Wildwing.

"Well, it has to consume some sort of matter," answered Tanya.

"We'll have to jettison something!" exclaimed Wildwing.

"Like with what? Everything is bolted down," questioned Kathryn.

"Maybe we can…" Tate started but he never got to speak his idea because all of a suddenly the group heard a door being opened from the side of the Aerowing.

The group felt a strong gust of wind that was trying to suck all of them out of the cockpit. Riko quickly turned around to see what was going on before gasping at the sight before her.

"Wildwing!" she shouted over the wind.

The white drake quickly turned to look over his shoulder and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Standing by the opened side door of the Aerowing was Canard. Wildwing instantly remembered Riko's dream and fear overcame his heart as he ran over to the tan drake with Riko following right behind him.

"Canard, what are you doing!?" yelled Wildwing.

"You heard Tanya, I'm going to shut this thing down!" shouted Canard as he glanced at Wildwing for a second before glaring back outside at the worm.

"Are you completely insane!?" exclaimed Riko angrily. "If you throw your life to that worm then the team will be losing the only leader in their fight against Dragaunus!"

"Riko's right, you can't be serious about this!" yelled Wildwing as he placed a hand on Canard's shoulder.

Canard looked at Wildwing and Riko with a serious look on his face: "It's the only way you two!"

With those words said Canard took the mask off of his face before he tried to hand it to Wildwing who refused to take it.

"Take it Wildwing, take it!" ordered Canard.

Riko quickly turned her eyes down towards Canard's feet before letting out a gasp when she saw a blue tentacle from the worm wrap around the drake's ankles.

"Canard, look out!" shouted Riko.

But the 18 year old girl's warning came out too late as Canard was suddenly pulled out of the Aerowing.

"Canard!" yelled Wildwing as he quickly grabbed his friend's outstretched arm that still held the mask. "Hang on!"

Riko quickly wrapped her arms around Wildwing's waist as she tried to help in pulling Canard back into the ship. Grin ran up to the two as he wrapped his arms around Riko's waist and began to pull as well. The trio pulled with all their might as they tried to get Canard out of the worm's grasp, but the strength of the worm pulling Canard away from them was too strong. Wildwing's grip on Canard's arm began to slip. Now, the only thing that kept the two connected to each other was the mask of Drake DuCaine. Wildwing looked down at Canard as the tan duck gripped the mask for a moment before looking up at his best friend.

"Take it," he said in an almost pleading voice. "You're team captain now."

Riko's eyes shot open when she heard those words and began to fear what will happen next.

"You idiot, don't you even think about letting go!" shouted Riko as she glared at the tan drake.

Canard looked at Riko sadly before speaking two words that stung the 18 year old girl's heart: "I'm sorry."

Then, as if watching in slow motion, Canard let go of the mask as he was pulled away from the group.

"NO!" cried out Wildwing as he, Riko and Grin fell back into the Aerowing.

"CANARD!" shouted Riko as she caught glimpse of the tan duck disappearing as he was swallowed up by the worm.

Duke, who had gotten out of his seat, quickly pressed the button on the side wall as he shut the door. The worm that had been wrapped around the Aerowing suddenly unwrapped itself from the aircraft before it disappeared within the void of the dimensional gateway. Everyone was quiet within the Aerowing as they let the occurrence of what had happened to their leader sink in. Riko and Wildwing were sitting on the floor as they both looked down at the mask that the white drake held in both of his hands.

"I can't believe it," muttered Tate as he broke the silence among his teammates.

"Sacrificed himself, to save us," voiced Duke.

"Truly, an evolved soul," spoke Grin.

Riko could only look down at the mask that Wildwing held in his hands as the shock of what happened sunk in. Another life was taken within this war that she chosen to become a part of. The 18 year old continued to stare at the mask as it changed from its battle form to an ordinary hockey mask before hanging her head in sadness while tears started to form in the corners of her eyes.

"That idiot," muttered Riko quietly to herself. "Why didn't he think before he leapt head first to his death?"

Wildwing heard what Riko had said as he turned to look at the silver haired human and saw her shaking with tears slowly running down her face. Wildwing knew that Riko and Canard weren't on good terms with each other, but that didn't mean that Riko was heartless she was just too stubborn to show anyone her feelings. The white drake sadly looked down at the mask before placing it inside his brown hip pouch. Riko continued to cry as she stubbornly tried to hold back her tears, but failed miserably before she suddenly felt Wildwing wrap his arms around her. Riko was a little shocked at first but soon relaxed within the white drake's embrace as she also wrapped her arms around him as well.

"We've tried our best Riko," whispered Wildwing. "We've tried our best."

Riko only nodded her head for she didn't have the courage to use her voice right now. They were quickly brought out of their embrace when Nosedive quickly shouted at them from the pilot seat.

"Uh guys, those Dino-creeps are getting away!"

Riko and Wildwing quickly pulled away from each other as they turned to look towards the front of the Aerowing. Tanya, who had been out of her seat at the time, ran up to her seat again and sat down in it.

"Oh no!" she gasped in horror. "They've must have passed through the other end of the gate way."

"That's not good," said Kathryn as she and Tate looked at each other in worry.

Riko, who had finally found her strength to stand again, stood up with Wildwing as they both started out the front window for a second before looking at each other. No words needed to be spoken between the two of them for they knew what they had to. Riko gave Wildwing a smirk before she spoke to him.

"I'll follow you wherever you go Wildwing."

Wildwing smiled at Riko before he turned around to face the front with a determined look on his face.

"Then that's where we're going!" exclaimed Wildwing firmly. "Punch it Nosedive!"

With that order given, Nosedive quickly charged the Aerowing into overdrive as the ship shot through the gateway at full speed. A bright flash appeared and blinded the team for a second before if quickly subsided. Once the team got their vision back they saw a green landscape and city in front of them. They were all standing at the front window as they took in the sight in front of them.

"Ugh!" growled Mallory in frustration when she didn't see their target. "Where's the Raptor?"

"I think really question for us here is, 'Where are we'?" said Tate as he looked at the scenery in front of him.

Riko looked out at the landscape in front of her before spotting a sign that they were passing over. The sign read "Welcome to Anaheim" and that's when realization dawn on the silver haired human.

'_I'm back on earth._'

To be continued


End file.
